Moules

Time to get back to 'normal' .....whatever that is, as the holidays are over...
We drove from Benoistville to Paris, then on to Venise for 3 nights (check out Novotel - kids go free until the age of 16...great breakfast buffet and often a pool which, given the heat that we're not used to, is fab)and from there to Croatia where we met up with some pals for a week of sailing....and ended our holiday in Vienna...

On the cookery front, I felt like Rick Stein when 'Gus' our friend and skipper went diving and presented me with a bucket of fresh mussels ....
So,obviously, busman's holiday apart, I had to come up with something to feed the crew...

Mussels in Garlic butter...easy, tasty - a classic french recipé. All you need is:

Garlic butter (see prawns in garlic butter recipé) and cleaned, debearded mussels...

Place mussels in a large, heavy based pot with a glass of wine, cover and place over a high heat for 3 - 4 minutes, shaking pot now and then, until the mussels have opened. Drain into a colander, tehn break off and disgard the empty half shells, leaving the mussels in the other shell.
Preheat the oven/grill to very high. Place a little garlic butter on each mussel ( yes, a very good friend of mine tells me life is too short for stuffing mushrooms - mussels too I imagine, but what a taste....)
Put into oven until bubbling hot and serve with lots of crusty bread and a dry white (Muscadet/Rosé)