Step 1

Triage. Just before you are ready to cook, you must do a little triage. This selection and cleaning process is critical because one dead mussel in the pot will stink up the kitchen and have you ordering out for pizza. Begin by rinsing them one at a time, washing off dirt and seaweed. Squeeze each mussel between your thumb and forefinger trying to slide the shells across each other. There should be resistance from the adductor muscle within the shell. If they slide easily, they are probably dead and must be discarded. If one is a lot heavier than the rest, it may be filled with mud or sand, so place it in the sink, crack it open, and check. Mussels with or broken shells should be discarded, too, because they are likely dead. It is often said that those with open shells should be discarded, but this is not true. Some live mussels open up after they have been out of water for a while and remain alive. If the shells hold firm, and they smell fresh and salty, you can keep them. The nose knows. When in doubt, throw it out.

Step 2

Soak and trim. Once you have culled the live from the questionable and rinsed them, submerge them for an hour or so with one tablespoon of salt per quart of water to get any stale water out of their systems. If the water gets cloudy, change it. Some people put in a few tablespoons of flour or cornmeal for the same purpose, and some say this fattens them up. My informal experiments are inconclusive. I don't see that this makes a diff. Just before cooking you should cut the beards off with a scissors or yank them.

Step 3

Optional tomatoes. If you are using them, cut the stem end off the tomatoes, about ½ inch (12.7 mm) from the top so you can see the gelatinous center, and hold them stem down over the garbage can. Squeeze out the seeds. Then coarsely chop them.

Step 4

Simmer. Mix all the ingredients except the mussels and tomatoes in a large, covered, non reactive pot, kettle, or wok. Crank the heat up and put the pot on until it is boiling, add the mussels and tomatoes, stir until the mussels are coated, and steam for 10 minutes, or until the shells have popped open and beg your indecent attentions. Do not overcook. Discard any that have not opened. Adjust seasoning to taste, but they should not need salt. You can add some fresh oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, or a drizzle of fresh olive oil at this stage if you wish.

Step 5

Get sloppy. Make sure plenty of napkins are on hand as well as an empty bowl for shells. After they are done cooking, and they cook in a scant 10 to 15 minutes, we ladle them, shells and all, into big shallow bowls with plenty of the liquor laden broth and serve with crusty bread or grilled bread.

Step 6

The bread is dipped into the broth, although I often like to tear off a hunk, scoop the meat from the shell, plop it on the bread, and then dunk it in the broth for a savory juicy little sandwich. If you are dainty you can pluck the mussels from the shells with an empty shell by using it like tongs.

Step 7

Although I love sourdough, I prefer this recipe with a baguette. Sometimes if I feel like indulging my wife or guests, I will scoop the meat from the shells with an empty shell before serving, but most of the time we prefer licking them clean. If you do remove the shells, make sure to scrape the adductor muscle that holds the meat to the shell. You don't want to lose this tasty chewy morsel of mussel! I cannot think of a better better finger food except maybe ribs.

Step 8

Leftovers. We always make more than we can eat and then save the meat and liquor. When you cannot eat another one, shell the remainder, and set them aside with the remaining liquid for a pasta sauce. They freeze well. But we usually just throw them in a plastic tub and later in the week we boil up some spaghetti and top it with the mussels and juice. No need to thicken it or flavor it or do anything else to it, although a little fresh chopped tomato and herbs do perk it up a bit.