Best Grilled Mussels With Herb Butter Recipes

GRILLED MUSSELS WITH GARLIC BUTTER

Steps:

• Scrub mussels in shells under cold running water. If present, remove beards. In an 8-quart Dutch oven combine 4 quarts cold water and 1/3 cup salt; add mussels. Soak for 15 minutes; drain and rinse. Discard water. Repeat soaking, draining, and rinsing twice.
• For sauce, in a small saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add wine; bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat; stir in parsley.
• Tear off a 36x18-inch piece of heavy foil; fold foil in half to make an 18-inch square. Place the mussels in the center of the foil. Bring up opposite edges of foil and seal with a double fold. Fold remaining edges together to completely enclose mussels, leaving space for steam to build.
• Place foil packet on the grill rack directly over medium-high heat; grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until shells open. Transfer mussels (discard any that do not open) and any liquid to a serving bowl.
• Transfer the sauce to small bowls for dipping. Serve mussels with sauce and, if desired, bread. Makes 4 appetizer servings.

GRILLED MUSSELS WITH HERB BUTTER

Steps:

• Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. In a small pot, melt butter over medium. Remove from heat and stir in parsley; set aside.
• Working in batches if necessary, place mussels on grill in a single layer. Place lemons, halved and lightly oiled, on grill, cut side down.
• Grill until mussels open and lemons are warmed through and browned, 5 minutes. With tongs, transfer mussels as they open to a large platter. (Discard unopened mussels.) Pour herb butter over mussels; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve with lemons.

GRILLED MUSSELS WITH CURRY BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for high medium-heat and lightly oil grate.
• Whisk together the butter, garlic, curry powder, cumin, and salt in a small bowl.
• Arrange four large sheets of aluminum foil on a flat surface. Divide the mussels into four even portions and place one portion on each piece of foil. Dot the mussels with the curry mixture. Sprinkle the red bell pepper and parsley over the top of each portion. Top each with lime slices. Wrap foil tightly around the portions.
• Cook the packets on the preheated grill until the mussels have opened, 5 to 10 minutes. Discard any mussels which do not open.
• Transfer the mussels to small bowls and garnish each with a lime wedge to serve.

HERB AND LEMON BUTTER MUSSELS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil and vegetable oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. When the pan is hot, add a pinch of salt along with the onions and garlic. Sweat until they are a tad past translucent and are just starting to acquire color. Before the garlic starts to brown, add the tomatoes, scallions and basil. Saute so that the flavors blend together, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes more.
• Add the mussels to the pan. Next, add the lemon juice and then the Chardonnay to deglaze the pan, and then quickly cover with a lid to steam the mussels. Note: Do not open for at least 1 1/2 to 2 minutes so the mussels can steam.
• Then, lift the lid and add the parsley (checking to make sure that there is enough moisture in the bottom of the pan to continue to steam the mussels). If everything is going properly, the mussels will have almost fully opened and there will be plenty of liquid still in the bottom of the pan to finish steaming the mussels. In that case, quickly cover the pan for another minute and a half. If the wine has evaporated and the mussels have not opened, add a small additional amount of wine, about a half cup more, and then re-cover the pan to cook out the additional raw alcohol taste and allow the mussels to fully open.
• Once 3 to 4 minutes total have passed since the beginning of the cooking process, all of the mussels should have opened and their natural juices should have leaked out into the bottom of the pan, combining with the fresh herbs and vegetables to create a simmering broth. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the butter until melted.
• Plate the mussels in a bowl and pour the sauce on top. Serve with your favorite toasted bread.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH LEEKS, GARLIC, THYME, WHITE WINE, AND BUTTER

Steps:

• Rinse the mussels under cold running water while scrubbing with a vegetable brush. Remove the stringy mussel beards with your thumb and index finger as you wash them. Discard any mussels with broken shells.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, garlic, and thyme and cook until the vegetables cook down to a pulp, about 5 minutes. Add the mussels and give everything a good toss. Add the white wine. Cover and steam over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until the mussels open. Stir occasionally so that all the mussels are in contact with the heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and a drizzle of olive oil to the sauce remaining in the pot and swirl to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

GRILLED OYSTERS WITH LEMONY GARLIC-HERB BUTTER

Steps:

• Ignite a full chimney of coals and spread out under one side of the grill once they are fully covered in gray ash, or heat half the burners of a gas grill to high. Cover and let the grill heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut off a sheet of aluminum foil twice the length of a 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Crumple it up so that it fits into the baking sheet. The crumpled foil should be able to support the cupped side of the oysters without allowing them to tip over.
• Prepare the garlic-herb butter: In a food processor, combine the butter, parsley, basil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Process until the herbs are finely chopped and there are no large chunks of butter remaining, about 30 seconds total, stopping to scrape down the sides of the processor with a rubber spatula a few times as needed. Transfer the mixture to a small, oven-safe saucepan.
• Using tongs, arrange the oysters over the hot side of the grill, placing them with the cupped sides down, doing your best to set them in the grates so that oyster juices don't pour out of the cups as they open. Cover and cook, checking on them every minute or so, and transferring any oysters that have begun to gape open to the foil-lined baking sheet. After a total of 4 minutes, transfer any remaining oysters to the foil whether they have opened or not. Place the saucepan on the cooler side of the grill.
• As soon as the oysters are cool enough to handle, pry off the top shells with a butter knife or oyster knife, severing through the muscle that holds the oyster to the shell and retaining as much juice in the shell as possible. For oysters that aren't already gaping open, the easiest way to pry off the lids is by inserting the tip of the knife into the joint and firmly twisting it until the joint releases.
• Spoon a generous teaspoon of the garlic-herb butter (which should be fully melted by now) into each oyster, then return the oysters directly onto the grates on the hot side of the grill. Cook, uncovered, until the sauce mixture is bubbling hot, about 1 minute. Return the oysters to the foil-lined baking sheet and serve immediately.

BROILED MUSSELS WITH GARLICKY HERB BUTTER

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse together parsley, garlic, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Pulse in butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons Pernod until mixture is combined. Scrape into a bowl.
• In a soup pot with a tightfitting lid, combine mussels, 1/4 cup pastis and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until mussels have opened, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer mussels to a bowl until cool enough to handle; remove meat from the shells (reserving shells) and transfer to a bowl.
• Pry apart mussel shells and arrange half the shells on one or two large baking sheets; discard remaining shells. Place one mussel in each shell. Top each with a small spoonful of herb butter and a sprinkling of bread crumbs. Mussels may be made up to 1 day ahead up to this point; wrap baking sheets and mussels in plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to serve, heat broiler to high and arrange a rack 4 inches from the heat. Transfer tray(s) to the oven and broil until bread crumbs are golden, 1 to 2 minutes.