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Escaping to the French Sea Coast - Moules au Roquefort (Mussels with Roquefort)

Simple and elegant…steamed mussels with a Roquefort sauce. This recipe is as close to taking you to the shores of France without crossing the big pond. When using ingredients from the same region, they have an infinity to blending in perfect harmony. Taking in all ingredients “French” (mussels, wine, Roquefort, butter, cream, olive oil, garlic), I converted them to some ingredients “North American” when it wasn’t feasible to use a French product. The mussels come from Prince Edward Island, Canada. I did use a white burgundy from France, Joseph Drouhin Saint-Véran. It is made from the Chardonnay grape. It is dry and well rounded with notes of apple, pear, and lemon. I also used a French butter, Isigny Ste Mère. You by no means need to go to that extent. A California chardonnay and a domestic butter will work just fine too.
The Roquefort sauce is a thin creamy sauce, perfect for dunking your pan seared bread into. The sharp, tangy, salty flavor of the blue cheese is minimized when added to the wine, mussel juice and cream. For those who aren’t in love with Blue Cheeses they’ll find the understated flavor of the Roquefort sauce is captivating. I have to admit when I saw it on a menu, I was skeptical (blue cheese and shellfish!) but I had to try it. My first dunk of bread into the sauce and I was transported to the shores of the French Sea Coast.
I pan seared slices of bread in garlic oil. The crispy exterior from pan searing creates a toasty crunch while maintaining a warm soft center. The dish is still a piecès de résistance if you chose to serve with warm slices of bread or a baguette. You could also opt to broil bread slices drizzled in olive oil.
Creating this elegant dish is very simple and takes very little time. A little prep work of cleaning the mussels, chopping and smashing, and pans searing your bread is all it takes. The mussels cook in 5 minutes. If you want to make it more of an entrée, you could serve them over angel hair or spaghetti pasta. Bon Appetite!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine French
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Mussels with Roquefort Sauce

  • 2 pounds Mussels
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • 2 medium Shallots chopped
  • 5 Garlic Cloves cut off tough bottom, smash, and peel
  • ½ bottle French White Wine I used Joseph Drouhin Saint-Véran or use a Chardonnay
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 teaspoons Coarsely Ground Pepper
  • 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
  • ¼ pound Roquefort
  • 8 Scallions green part only cut into long thin slices.

Pan Seared Garlic Bread Slices

  • 4-6 slices French or Sourdough Bread sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Instructions

Mussels with Roquefort Sauce

  • Slice the scallions in to long (4 inch) thin slices. Use only the green part of the scallion. Put in a bowl with ice water and chill. This will cause the scallions to curl. When ready to serve. Drain the scallions and top the mussels with the scallion curls.
  • In a sauté pan with straight edges or a saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until shallots become translucent.
  • Pour in the wine and increase heat to medium. Bring wine to a boil. Season the wine with the 1 teaspoon salt and the 2 teaspoons pepper. Add mussels and cover for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and make sure all the mussels have opened. If they haven’t, cook a little longer.
  • Add the cream and Roquefort, stirring to blend the sauce.
  • Serve in heated bowls, garnish with scallion curls.

Pan Seared Garlic Bread Slices

  • Heat a large cast iron or heavy skillet over medium low heat. 
  • Add the half the Garlic Oil.  Place the bread slices in the pan and drizzle the top of the bread with the other half of garlic olive oil.  Pan Sear each side of the bread for 3-4minutes.  Add more olive oil if bread seems dry. 
  • Keep in a 100-degree oven until ready serve.

Notes

Cleaning the Mussels:
Your mussels are alive. They need to be closed tightly to remain alive. Tap open mussels on your countertop. If they close, they are still alive. Discard any mussels that do not close after gently tapping. Pull out any beards on the mussels (this is how the mussels attaches itself to a surface in the water). A little tug should remove it. Scrub under cold water. Keep chilled till you’re ready to cook. When mussels warm up, they relax and will reopen. To ensure they are all alive we want to keep them tightly closed and chilled. If the mussels open while you have them refrigerated, gently tap them again until they close.