Food & drink
Give yourself a lockdown treat with delicious dishes of mussels, scallops and clams
Delicious and easy-tofollow shellfish recipes from Neil Forbes, plus Rose Murray Brown chooses the best dozen sparkling rosés
Ican’t sit down for long as I get fidgety and have to do something. For many of us, the kitchen cupboards have been cleaned, the garden is immaculate, all the books have been read; what do you do if you aren’t allowed out? I pick a recipe book that I haven’t used for years and flick through, find something interesting and have a go.
Shellfish is inspiring me right now and it’s available, delivered to your door, by the likes of Guy Grieve from The Ethical Shellfish Company. Hand-dived scallops, a lobster as a treat, langoustines or prawns, superb oysters, mussels and clams are all very sustainable food products. Shellfish can be inexpensive if you follow the seasons. For a newcomer to shellfish cookery I’d suggest starting with mussels – sweet and very tasty. We use Shetland Blueshell mussels at Cafe St Honoré and never veer too far away from white wine (or perhaps cider), cream, garlic or wild garlic. So here are a few easy-to-follow, good and sustainable dishes to try at home, bursting with great flavours and relatively simple to produce.
Mussels with garlic, cream and parsley
This is delicious, inexpensive and a real show-stopper. If the shells don’t open, don’t force them. And if you cram too many in the pan they won’t open, so be mindful of that and move them aground as they cook to take on the delicious-flavoured cream.
Serves four
1kg cleaned mussels 200ml double cream
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 glass of good white wine 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 lemon good salt and pepper
1 Put a thick-bottomed pan on the hob on to heat.
2 Meanwhile, ensure all the mussels have their beards removed, and have been thoroughly rinsed.
3 Tip the mussels into the hot pan and add the white wine, shallot and garlic. Cover with a lid on and cook on a high heat, allowing the mussels to steam for 4-5 minutes.
4 Add the cream, a squeeze of lemon and parsley. Stir and season to taste. Ensure all the mussels are open and covered with the sauce.
5 Serve immediately with a lemon wedge.
Clams with bacon and thyme
You can use surf clams, palourde (carpet shell clams) or even cockles in this recipe as they are all tasty. A mixture perhaps? A classic dish, served to share in the middle of the table, this is eaten by the ton in Spain and Portugal but not so popular here. I wonder why, as they are delicious tasting shellfish. The bacon gives depth to the sauce, or broth.
Serves four
4 handfuls of clams, either palourdes or surf
1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped a few sprigs of thyme
2 rashers of bacon, chopped into little lardons or strips a tablespoon of organic extra-virgin olive oil juice of half a lemon good salt and pepper a tablespoon of curly parsley, chopped 1 Rinse the clams thoroughly to remove any grit.
2 Place a large pot on the hob and turn the heat up high. Add half the olive oil and the bacon. Fry until golden.
3 Add the clams and garlic to the pot and cover with a lid. Move them around continuously as you cook until all the shells open. Then add the thyme, lemon juice, parsley and season with salt and pepper.
4 After a few minutes with the heat still on high, the clams should all be open. Now add the remainder of the olive oil and stir.
5 Serve in warmed bowls with good bread to mop up all the juice.
Hand-dived scallops, chive butter sauce
I adore the aromas when the shell cracks and splutters with the heat from the grill. This is an impressive dish to serve to guests (when it is safe to have them round), but an equally good treat to cheer us up. Lashings of garlic butter with scallops always works, and a good white wine like an Albarino is a great match.
Serves two
allow 3 or 4 scallops per person and leave the coral on (the orange bit). I buy my scallops from The Ethical Shellfish Company.
100ml white wine
100ml cider vinegar
1 sprig of thyme a few peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 shallot, peeled and roughly sliced 1 tablespoon double cream
125g cold, unsalted butter, diced into small cubes good salt and pepper
1 lemon for squeezing
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives 12 tablespoons cold-pressed rapeseed oil
1 Firstly, to make a reduction for the sauce, add the shallots, peppercorns, bay leaf, wine, vinegar and thyme to a small pot and bring to the boil. Reduce by two thirds then pass through a sieve into a clean pot and bring to the boil again and reduce by half.
2 To make the sauce, add the cream to the reduction and gently bring to the boil. Then slowly add the cubes of butter, a few at a time, and start to emulsify the sauce by using a swirling technique with your spoon or whisk. Don't let the mixture get too hot or too cold as it will split.
3 Season the sauce with salt and pepper, and a hint of lemon juice then add the chopped chives. Set to one side in a warm place.
4 To cook the scallops, place a frying pan on the hob taking it to a high temperature. Add a splash of coldpressed rapeseed oil, and ensuring they are dry, add the scallops to the hot oil in the pan.
5 Cook the scallops on both sides for a minute or two until golden brown. Don't over-cook them or they will become like rubber balls. Remove them from the pan and season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Place onto warmed plates and drizzle over the chive butter sauce. Serve at once.