Waking up at 3AM is usually not fun but waking up early for a fun trip is another story.
Heard it from a good friend about the great seafood deal @ Newport Beach—and an even better deal: she and her uncle will take us there too!! YEAH~ hhaha THANK YOU SO MUCH JACKI~
Seriously~ I’ve never been that excite to get up at 3-ish and for that night, I just couldn’t wait for the alarm clock to go off.
With bad weather, we didn’t expect we have much to buy. We got 1 spider crab, 2 female-1-male stone crab, 1 black cod (sable fish), and 2 pounds of fresh mussels. Too bad that we have missed the lobster season and no prawn is available.
It’s an experience to see the ugly spider crab and to cook fresh mussels.
With the mussels, I soak it for 30 minutes and then remove the beard by pulling the beard toward the hinge. Then it’s the time for a scrubbing bath!! Use a brush to brush off the “attachments” on the shell.
White wine mussels
Ingredients:
2 pounds of fresh mussels, cleaned, de-beard.
½ brown onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
White wine 1 cup
Olive oil, 2 tbsp
Butter, 2 tbsp
Thymes (I used dry, ~ 1-1.5 tbsp)
What’s Cooking:
1) Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, then sauté the garlic until it turns into golden color.
2) Add onion, sauté it until brown.
3) Add thymes, white wine, and butter. Simmer for ~ 10 minutes.
4) Add the mussels, cover the pan and cook for ~ 10 minutes until all the shells are opened.
5) Transfer the mussels onto a bed of spaghetti's, which I have slightly tossed with Meyer lemon juice and butter.
6) If you prefer a thicker sauce, continue to cook the sauce in the sauté pan--- or just pour the sauce over the mussels. Yum~ the pasta is going to soak up all the extract from the mussels.
7) Sprinkle dash of paprika on the top~ Bon Appétit!
