Mussels in White Wine and Garlic

Recipe Name:  Mussels in White Wine and Garlic

Story:  I can very vividly remember Aunt Julie teaching me how to make this in the early 2000s in the Snellville house and at her house in Decatur.  I believe she learned this recipe from her trip to Italy and modified it a bit to her liking.  For years when I would travel home for the holidays, I would stop by their house in Decatur on my way back to Nashville, and then go to the Dekalb Farmers Market, where I would pick up fresh mussels, place them in my cooler for the drive home, so that I could cook this recipe for dinner when I returned home.  The recipe isn't very precise, because it is more about creating a nice steam / dipping sauce and just steaming the mussels.  As such it is more of an "art" then a "science," which is one of the many things Julie taught me about cooking.

Years you've been making it:  Since roughly 2000

Author / Creator:  Aunt Julie

Submitted by:  Dustin

Ingredients:  

• 2-3 pounds cultivated mussels (up to 4)
• 3-4 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 4-6 large shallots, finely chopped
• 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1-2 cups good white wine
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:  

1. Clean mussels of any debris and debeard (see notes below)
2. Melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat
3. Add shallots and saute for a few minutes
4. Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes
5. Add thyme, wine, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer
6. Add Mussels, cover and cook until opened (usually 5 - 10 mins or so)
7. Remove Mussels with a slotted spoon to a serving dish, if any do not open discard them
8. Reduce the remaining liquid for 5 - 10 mins until desired richness
9. Poor reduced sauce over Mussels and serve with good crusty bread for dipping!

Notes:  

Cleaning / Debeard mussels:

Place the mussels in a colander in the sink and run water over them, using your hands or a clean scrubbing brush to rub off any debris like seaweed, sand, barnacles, or mud spots that could be on the shell. If you find any mussels with open shells, lightly tap that mussel against the side of the sink. If the mussel closes up again in response to this turmoil, it's alive. If it doesn't move, discard it.

The "beard" of a mussel is the clump of hair-like fibers that sprouts from the shell. Often farm-raised mussels will come debearded, but even so you'll want to check that there aren't some pesky ones hanging on. To remove the beard from the mussels, grab it with your thumb and forefinger and tug it toward the hinge of the mussel shell. You can also use a knife to gently scrape away the beard.

Recipes from Enrica Rocca Cooking School

Recipe Name:  Recipes from Enrica Rocca Cooking School

Story:  These are recipes from the cooking school that Julie attended back in 2008.  Kristy found an email from Julie where she had attached the recipes that she had learned.  I had previously pulled out a couple of specific recipes that had memories, but there are so many great recipes in here I felt it warranted posting the attachments for everyone.  A couple of quotes from family members:

"Wow Kristy !

I look forward to reading these more thoroughly.

I think all the recipes Julie, the boys and me cooked are in these two documents.

Love Suzy"

"Hi Kristy,

What a find!

It brings back so many great memories that I had with Julie in Venice!  She was at cooking school and I was at the mosaic school.  One day I took the water taxi to join her and Enrica Rocca …. It was at the end of the cooking day and waiting for me to taste and savor was the risotto with wild mushrooms!  It was heavenly.  And, once home Julie made this recipe often.  Always good.

Also, once home and for several years, Julie made the homemade tomato sauce!  I don’t know how she did it in her small kitchen!  I have a feeling the dogs had a lot to lick up!

Dustin, one of the things Enrica did with Julie was take her to the market and teach/share with her what to look for when buying everything from vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, etc.….

Kristy, thank you so much for sharing.

Love,

Sheila"

Years you've been making it:  Since 2008

Author / Creator:  Enrica Rocca, Julie

Submitted by:  Kristy

Notes:  

See document links below for the many recipes and teachings:

Enrica Rocca Cooking School, Sept 22-25, 2008:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2UZje811CJLSjFDRkhzSG1uODdjMXdkX1pMV1M0YlpuaTcw/view?usp=sharing

Making Cooking More Fun, Final Version:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a67M4LdJn3WCS7cX7pw72ukliquWV1gmYauYq2qqNUE/edit?usp=sharing

Red Wine Reduced Sauteed Mushrooms from Aunt Julie

Recipe Name:  Red Wine Reduced Sauteed Mushrooms

Story:  This is a recipe that Julie taught me and I have been making ever since to accompany a nice steak.  One primary lesson she taught me through this recipe is how to cook / season to taste, rather than exact measurements.  As such, I have never written this recipe down and make it purely on how it looks / tastes.  I never measure for this recipe.

Years you've been making it:  Since the early 2000s

Author / Creator:  Julie

Submitted by:  Dustin

Ingredients:  

• 2 to 3 Tbls butter
• 16 oz sliced mushrooms (button or baby bellas)
• 1 sweet / yellow onion, sliced
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1+ cup red wine
• 2 to 3 Tbls balsamic vinegar
• 1 to 2 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I use a decent amount)
• Salt to taste

Directions:  

1. Melt butter in sauce pan on medium heat
2. Add sliced onions, season with some salt and pepper, and saute for 5 or so mins until translucent
3. Add garlic and cook for a couple mins
4. Add sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute for 5 to 10 mins until mushrooms have released their liquid and begun to cook down
5. Add red wine, balsamic, and worcestershire sauce, bring to a low simmer and turn down heat to med low
6. On a low simmer, stirring every so often to prevent burning, allow to reduce for 30 - 45 mins until it becomes a thick reduction
7. Serve alongside a nice grilled steak (or on top)

Notes:  

This takes roughly 1 hr to cook, but is relatively unattended, so it is easy to prepare as a side dish

As mentioned above, the measurements are approximations, feel free to adjust to your liking

Tomato Sauce

Recipe Name: Tomato Sauce

Story:
"It brings back so many great memories that I had with Julie in Venice!  She was at cooking school and I was at the mosaic school.  One day I took the water taxi to join her and Enrica Rocca …. It was at the end of the cooking day and waiting for me to taste and savor was the risotto with wild mushrooms!  It was heavenly.  And, once home Julie made this recipe often.  Always good.

Also, once home and for several years, Julie made the homemade tomato sauce!  I don’t know how she did it in her small kitchen!  I have a feeling the dogs had a lot to lick up!" - Sheila

Years you've been making it: Since 2009

Author / Creator: Enrica Rocca

Submitted by: Julie

Ingredients:
20 mils extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves whole
500gr. Cherry tomatoes or baby plum tomatoes whole and washed
1 small bunch of fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a small frying pan, place the olive oil and garlic and let the garlic infuse with the oil at a very low temperature for as long as you can.

As soon as the garlic becomes brown (don’t let it burn as burned garlic gives a very bitter flavour to the sauce) add all the tomatoes, a bit of salt and close the pan with a lid.

Increase lightly the temperature and let the tomatoes explode which will take approx 10 min. Time will vary depending on the temperature.

Once all the tomatoes are exploded, mash them with a hand potato masher or a wooden spoon.

Now you will have a lot of liquid in the pan, more in the winter when the tomatoes are less ripe.

Keeping the lid off will let the water evaporate till you reach a thick consistency.

Add only at the end the basil as otherwise a lot of the flavour will evaporate.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

If you wish to use tomato sauce to dress a stuffed pasta (ravioli, tortellini..) it’s better to avoid putting basil, as basil has a very strong flavour, and add some crème fraiche or mascarpone or panna to take off a little bit of acidity that tomatoes have and doesn’t cover the flavour of the pasta filling.

Risotto with Wild Mushrooms

Recipe Name: Risotto with Wild Mushrooms

Story:
"It brings back so many great memories that I had with Julie in Venice!  She was at cooking school and I was at the mosaic school.  One day I took the water taxi to join her and Enrica Rocca …. It was at the end of the cooking day and waiting for me to taste and savor was the risotto with wild mushrooms!  It was heavenly.  And, once home Julie made this recipe often.  Always good." - Sheila

Years you've been making it: Since 2009

Author / Creator: Enrica Rocca

Submitted by: Julie

Ingredients:

320gr Carnaroli rice
500gr. mix wild mushrooms
20mils Olive oil
½ a large onion finely chopped                                                             
2 glasses dry white wine
Chicken stock (if available) or fresh or hot water with 2 chicken Knorr cubes
Parsley
Salt and pepper
20 gr. butter
30 gr freshly grated parmesan cheese

Serves 4

Directions:

Start by cleaning the mushrooms and break them into smaller pieces.

In a pan, add the whole garlic clove and the oil. On low temp let the oil infuse with the garlic and when it starts browning remove from the pan and add the mushrooms..

Stir fry for 10  minutes or more if necessary. Cooking time will depend on how much water the mushrooms will release.

In a separate pot add butter and when melted add finely chopped onions. Cover with a lid and let soften for as long as you can without letting them brown.

Add the wine and let evaporate on slow temp.

Add the rice and let fry for 1 to 2 min.

Start adding BOILING stock a bit at the time till rice is cooked(approx. 25 min.).

Season with salt and pepper, add butter and Parmesan cheese, some chopped parsley, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.