Mussels à la Tick

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 3 kg mussels
• 2 carrots
• ½ celeriac
• ½ bulb(s) of fennel
• 1 stalk(s) leek
• 300 g butter
• 1 bunch parsley, flat
• 2 onions
• 300 ml dry white wine
• 200 ml vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 black peppercorns
• 6 grains of allspice
• 4 carnations
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper
• Black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

a particularly delicious variation for 3 hungry mussel lovers

Rinse the fennel, carrots, and celeriac, peel, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Wash and dry the leek, halve, and cut into fine strips. Cut 50g of butter into small pieces and place in the freezer. Wash the parsley, shake dry, and pick off the leaves. Set some aside for garnish and roughly chop the remaining leaves. Place the bay leaves, pepper, allspice, and cloves in a tea bag and seal it tightly. Brush the mussels vigorously under cold water. Carefully sort out any opened or broken mussels. Place the cleaned mussels in cold water for about 20 minutes to rinse out the sand. Then rinse briefly again and drain well. Peel and dice the onions. Heat 50g of butter in a large saucepan. Add the diced onions and sauté until translucent, stirring constantly. Add the vegetables to the onions and sauté briefly. Season generously with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Deglaze the vegetables with the white wine, add the spice sachets, bring to a boil briefly, pour in the vegetable stock, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Now increase the heat to maximum, bring to a boil, and add the mussels to the pot. Cook over high heat with the lid closed for about 8 minutes, until the shells open. Halfway through the cooking time, give the pot a quick shake. Remove the mussels from the liquid with a slotted spoon and arrange in deep plates. Discard any mussels that did not open during cooking. Season the liquid with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the spice sachets. Add the parsley and the remaining 200g butter, bring back to a boil briefly, remove from the heat, mount with the 50g frozen butter cubes, and pour over the mussels. If you prefer to eat the mussels from a large pot, simply pour the broth into another pot after the mussels have cooked for 8 minutes and proceed as described above. Then pour the finished broth over the mussels in the pot. Garnish with the parsley leaves. Serve with buttered brown bread and a baguette for the broth.