Mussels in Chipotle Cream
Serve with your toppings of choice! Here I included sliced scallions. What is non-negotiable is crusty bread for ample sauce moppery.
Mussels in Chipotle Cream
My husband and I are preparing for a trip to Mexico City. With the help from some friends, we got a reservation at the highly sought after Contramar restaurant. I have been to Gabriela Camera’s SF restaurant, Cala, and was blown away by the food and service. I know that Contramar will be just as good, if not better. I’ve owned her cookbook, My Mexico City Kitchen for years and have attempted several of her recipes, including the famed recipe for Pescado a la Talla. It is a split white fish that is coated with two kinds of salsa and then grilled.
The book also features a recipe for Mussels in Chipotle Cream. It’s a Mexican version of the French moules marinères where mussels are steamed in a broth made with leeks, white wine, and cream. In Camera’s version, she uses creme fraiche and chipotle peppers in adobo to give the sauce a sweet and fiery kick. This is my interpretation of the recipe with ingredients that I had readily available on hand plus a fun edition for all my Southerners out there.
I love using mussels as the base for a quick and elegant dinner. In fact, when my husband was ‘courting me’ he prescribes the moment I made him moules marinères as the point in time when he fell in love with me. There we were in a 700 square foot apartment eating mussels of a makeshift picnic blanket watching the Pixar movie Up. Anyways, the key to cooking mussels is to cook over high heat in a deep pot like a Dutch oven for no more than five minutes. Shaking the pot back and forth gently on the stove top will help evenly distribute sauce and encourage the little mussels to release all of their salty juices.
Ingredients for the Mussels in Chipotle Cream
2.5-3 lbs of mussels, debearded and cleaned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 oz thinly sliced country ham*
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 chipotle peppers in adobo
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 1/2 cup shellfish or seafood stock, divided
5-6 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced
Crusty bread for serving
Serves 2 as a main course
Directions for the Mussels in Chipotle Cream
Rinse and drain your mussels thoroughly. If you are sourcing from a reputable fish monger, they will likely have debearded them already. Set aside.
Prepare the base of the chipotle cream sauce by blending the chipotle peppers, mascarpone cheese, and half of the shellfish or fish stock. Transfer to a container and set aside.
Heat a large pot like a Dutch oven or a stock pot up to medium high heat with the olive oil, sweat the country ham, shallots, and garlic for three minutes. Add in the sherry and remaining fish stock to the pot and continue to cook for two minutes to cook off the alcohol in the sherry.
Crank the heat to high. Add in the mussels to the pot. Toss with a wooden spoon. Immediately cover with the lid and cook for three minutes. Gently shake the pot with the lid on over the stove to encouraging heat distribution. Remove the lid and add in the chipotle cream sauce. Cover again and cook for another two minutes. Turn the heat off.
Transfer some of the mussels to a serving plate. Do not forget to add a few ladles of that delicious sauce. Top with sliced green onions and serve with crusty bread to soak all of that sauce up. Enjoy!
*If country ham is not available, you can substitute with three ounces of thick-cut bacon or chorizo.