Food + Wine: Recipe

Mike's Marvelous Mead Mussels (Mmmm)
By: Michael Weller, Bear Moon Productions

Consulting chef to BARGETTO Wine Club and BARGETTO WINERY.

Ingredients:

5 pounds cleaned mussels (or clams, but Mmmm just isn't as poetic)

3 T. vegetable oil

1 stalk lemon grass, thinly sliced

2" of ginger -do not bother peeling it!

10 cloves of peeled garlic, roughly chopped and sliced thinly

4 or more habanero chilies, finely chopped

zest of 5 limes

juice of 5 limes

1/2 bottle of CHAUCER'S Mead

a bunch of basil (Thai purple is best here, but any will do), chopped

1 bunch mint, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Procedure:
1. Put the oil in a stockpot and heat them both up.

2. Add the lemon grass, ginger, garlic. chilies, and lime zest. Cook and stir until you smell the wonderful aroma (be careful, the habaneros may make you cough; if they do, drink some cold Mead and carry on). 3. Add everything else.

4. Put a lid on the pot and cook until the mussels all open. Open the lid and stir everything around once in a while during the cooking -you don't really need to, but the aroma is incredible.

5. Serve with PLENTY of cold Mead and some type of bread for sopping up the cooking liquid.

Serves: 2 meal sized portions, 6 first course portions or 20 appetizer portions.