Mussels/5 recipes

Mussels a la Portuguese steamed in white wine, shallots, garlic, thyme, and cream. Briny, aromatic, ready in 4 minutes of steaming. Serve with crusty bread to soak the broth.

Bone-in duck seared in rendered fat, then braised in red curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, and lime juice over jasmine rice. Rich Thai-inspired comfort with a mussels variation included.

Seafood paella simmers quick-cooking brown rice with saffron, sweet red peppers, and garlic, then finishes with shrimp, green peas, and steamed-open mussels. A faster, one-pan take on the Spanish classic.

Menai Pride mussels pate baked in a bain-marie with herring roe, brandy, double cream, and egg yolks. A traditional Welsh seafood starter served with toast fingers.

Seattle-style cioppino loaded with Dungeness crab, mussels, red snapper, shrimp, and calamari in a red wine sweet pepper sauce. A Pacific Northwest seafood stew that feeds 8.

Cream of mussel soup made the classic way: steam-opened mussels, a quick butter-flour roux, and a splash of cream stirred in at the end. Five ingredients, twenty minutes, restaurant results.

Tomato basil mussels: fresh mussels steamed open in a broth of white wine, garlic, diced tomatoes, basil, and hot sauce. A 15-minute Mediterranean dinner served in its own briny-tomato broth.

Saffron-scented rice loaded with chorizo, pork, squid, and clams, studded with almonds, pine nuts, and artichoke hearts. A Catalan spin on paella that feeds a hungry table of six.