Mussels with charred and pickled cucumber, toasted almonds and curry sauce
This gorgeous little dish combines mussels, pickles and charred cucumber, dill oil and almonds with a silky curried sauce made from the mussels' cooking liquor. The pickled cucumber and bright green dill oil need preparing the day before, so bear this in mind when planning to cook the dish.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Mussels and velouté
- 1kg mussels, Matt gets his from St Austell Bay in Cornwall
- 1 dash of vegetable oil
- 1/2 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1/2 celery stick, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 1/2 tbsp of curry powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch of powdered saffron
- 250ml of white wine
- 250ml of whipping cream
- salt
- lime juice, to taste
Dill oil
- 25g of dill
- 100ml of grapeseed oil
Cucumber
- 2 cucumbers
- 100ml of white wine vinegar
- 100ml of water
- 50g of sugar
Garnish
- 50g of whole blanched almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- coriander cress
- 1 finger lime
Equipment
- Blow torch
- Blender
Method
Begin by pickling the cucumber the day before serving. Place the water, vinegar and sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved, then leave to cool. Trim the cucumbers into rectangles, cutting each long side off, leaving you with the 'heart' of the vegetable (the bit with the seeds). Submerge the cucumber ‘hearts’ in the pickle liquor and leave to pickle overnight
- 100ml of white wine vinegar
- 100ml of water
- 50g of sugar
- 2 cucumbers
The dill oil is also best made the day before. Blanch the dill in salted boiling water for 5 seconds then refresh in ice water. Squeeze out any excess water from the dill and transfer to a blender with the oil. Blitz until smooth, then pour into a fine sieve lined with muslin cloth or a j-cloth set over a bowl. Leave to strain overnight in the fridge
- 25g of dill
- 100ml of grapeseed oil
The next day, scrub the mussels clean, removing the beards and discarding any with broken shells or that don't close when firmly tapped
- 1kg mussels, Matt gets his from St Austell Bay in Cornwall
Place a large pan over a medium heat with a dash of oil and add the carrot, celery and onion. Cook for a few minutes until starting to soften, then add the curry powder, cayenne pepper and saffron and cook for a few more minutes
- 1 dash of vegetable oil
- 1/2 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1/2 celery stick, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 1/2 tbsp of curry powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch of powdered saffron
Add the mussels to the pan, stir and turn up the heat then add the wine and cover with a lid. Cook for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. After this time the mussels should have all opened. Drain through a sieve set over a bowl. Return the collected liquid to the pan and place back over the heat to reduce. Once reduced by half, add the cream and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and season with salt and lime juice
- 1kg mussels, cleaned
- 250ml of white wine
- 250ml of whipping cream
- salt
- lime juice, to taste
Discard any mussels which haven’t opened and pick the meat from the shells
Remove the cucumbers from the pickle and pat dry. Blowtorch the flat sides until completely blackened. Leave to cool then cut through the centre of each piece lengthways, then again in half to create a total of 8 batons. Place on a tray to reheat
Gently warm the mussels in the sauce and reheat the cucumber in a hot oven for a few minutes. Plate up each baton of cucumber and carefully top with the mussels. Garnish with pieces of almond and coriander cress, then cut open the finger lime and squeeze to get at the 'pearls' within. Scatter some of these pearls on top of the mussels. Pour some of the sauce alongside the cucumber and finish with a drizzle of the dill oil
- 50g of whole blanched almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- coriander cress
- 1 finger lime
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