Here below the blogger presents a recipe from the Rock Star ( Enfant terrible ),
of the Haute Cuisine Mr Alain Ducasse !
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Cream of Mussel Soup, with
Saffron.
Ingredients : Serves 4.
1 1/2 quarts mussels, ( 1.5 lit ), 3
1/3 cups dry white wine ( 80 cl ), 1 1/2 ounces shallots ( 40 g ), parsley
stems, 1 branch thyme,
1/2 bay leaf, 3 ribbons orange rind, 3
1/3 cups sole fumet ( 80 cl ), 2 3/4 ounces tomato pulp ( 80 g ), 2 teaspoons
corn starch ( 8 g ),
1/2 teaspoon saffron pistils ( 2 g ),
9 ounces whipping cream ( 260 g ).
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PREPARING AND COOKING THE MUSSELS : 1.
Scrape the mussels, remove the foot, and wash by rubbing them against each
other
to clean well. Drain in a colander. 2.
Peel, and finely mince the shallots and straw onion. 3. Tie up a bouquet garni
with the parsley stems,
thyme, bay leaf, and orange rind. 4.
Place the mussels in a saute pan fitted with a cover. Add the shallots, bouquet
garni, dry white wine,
then cover the receptacle and bring as
quickly to a boil as possible. 5. When the mussels have opened just slightly,
drain in a colander
placed over a stainless steel
receptacle. 6. Delicately take the mussels out of their shells, and remove any
frilly lace withought damaging them.
Set 60 of mussels aside to bind the
soup. Delicately put the others away in a receptacle, covering them with a
little cooking juice.
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MAKING THE CREAM OF MUSSELS : Filter
the rest of the mussels' cooking juices through cheesecloth, previously rinsed
under cold running
water, and pour into a pot big enough
to cook the entire soup. Add 3 1/3 cups ( 80cl ) of sole fumet and reduce by
half. Then add the tomato pulp
and cook for 3 minutes on the edge of
the range, maintaining a slight simmer.
Dilute the corn starch in a little
cold water, and thicken the reduction. Add the whipping cream and saffron
pistils, and cook for 5 minutes over a low heat.
Liquefy the soup and the mussels that
had been set aside to bind it, then pour into another pot, filtering the soup
through a fine-meshed chinois.
Check the seasoning.
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FINISH and PRESENTATION : Reheat the
rest of the mussels in the cooking juice without boiling. Liquefy the cream of
mussel soup one last time, add
a few pistils of saffron, and poor
into a hot soup tureen. Place the mussels in rose shape in the soup dishes, and
serve immediately.
