Donal Skehan's Mussels with Irish Cider Cream Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 kg fresh mussels

2 tablespoons butter

125 grams bacon, diced

1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard

300ml hard cider

4 tablespoons 35% whipping cream

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

To serve: Crusty bread

Directions

1. Prepare your mussels: place mussels in a bowl of cold water and sort through. Put any mussels that are open to one side. Tap each of these mussels against a hard surface and if they snap shut, the mussel is still alive and suitable to eat. If they stay open when tapped, discard them.

2. Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over a medium heat alongside the bacon.

3. Cook bacon until slightly crisp before adding shallot. Add shallot and cook for 2 minutes before adding garlic. Stir these around for a few minutes and add the leaves of the thyme sprigs.

4. Add in mustard, cider and stir. Allow sauce to come to a steady simmer and add in the prepped mussels.

5. Turn up heat, cover with lid, and allow mussels to steam until they have opened up, usually for about 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.

6. Strain the mussels into a colander, keeping the cooking liquid. Set aside mussels and bring the pan back up to a medium heat, adding the cream to the cooking liquid.

7. Allow to come to a steady simmer & season to taste. Pour the creamy sauce over the mussels, sprinkle with parsley & serve immediately with crusty sourdough bread.