# Frozen Mussels?



## FraidKnot

My brother gave me a pound bag of frozen mussels in a butter/garlic sauce.  The instructions are to place the contents in a covered pan and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer about 3-5 minutes longer.  According to my brother the mussel shells will open.  I know not to eat the ones that don't open and I'm a little puzzled as to why, since they aren't alive, they will still open.

But really, my question is this: what should I serve them with?  I'm thinking linguini.  Not sure what, if any, additional seasonings they might require.  I've only ever had mussels in soup and a mixed seafood dish we had when John and I were on the road.

Any insight?

Fraidy


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## Constance

We used to go to a restaurant call "Shells" when we visited Kim's folks in Bradington, Florida. They made a seafood pasta that was the best I ever tasted, and it had mussels in it, as well as shrimp, crab, clams, scallops and other things (wish I could remember). It was mixed in with linquine and a creamy sauce that I guess was Alfredo, but it wasn't so over-whelmingly rich and not real heavy on the garlic. It may have had a bit of lemon, but not enough to make it taste lemony.  Seems like it might have had some bits of red and green peppers in it too, not sure. 
I hope that gives you something to play with. It was truly delicious. I could eat my weight in it.


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## kitchenelf

The linguini sounds good.  There still could be some that don't open - so you already know not to eat those.

You could do "Italian" and make a lemon risotto to serve with them - I've been in a risotto mood lately and haven't made it yet so I'm trying to live vicariously through someone else right now!    But an asparagus, lemon, (of course Parmesan and white wine) risotto sounds pretty good to me!


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## boufa06

I always use fresh mussels for better taste and the fact that I can use the stock for my spaghetti sauce.  So far I have not used frozen ones but I do know that for fresh mussels, if after sufficient cooking, some mussels still do not open up, it means that they are dead and have to be thrown away.

I do not know exactly what the butter/garlic sauce contains.  But since it is a sauce and not a mixture, most probably it has cream in it.  One way to find out is to taste it when thawed.  In case it has a mild taste, you might want to add ingredients like chopped onion, fresh/dried basil, light cream/milk, white wine and grated Parmesan cheese to give it more flavour before adding your cooked mussels to it.  Lingini or spaghetti is fine to go along with this sauce.


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## kitchenelf

I would venture to say that the sauce is just that - butter and garlic and NO cream.  The addition of basil and Parmesan cheese would be wonderful!  You could add the basil towards the end of cooking and of course the cheese to finish.


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## Gretchen

I think these are already cooked. YOu don't need to worry about them opening or not.
The sauce is on them. Eat with some nice French baguette. You could absolutely pour some cream over them for added goodness.


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## Corey123

I've never tried these, but I guess it would be ok.


~Corey123.


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## Steve A

> According to my brother the mussel shells will open. I know not to eat the ones that don't open and I'm a little puzzled as to why, since they aren't alive, they will still open.



Even if they were alive when you bought them, they'd be dead when you cooked them. And yes, the shells will still open. Basically, it's nothing more than the muscle controlling the shell relaxing. So then, you ask, why don't the OTHERS open? They were already dead before they were frozen.

Ciao,


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## Corey123

Yeah, I forgot about that! Sorry about that.

Stuff like this should not be bought frozen, but should be bought fresh and alive. That way, you'll know that you are getting the mussels in their freshest state.

NEVER buy dead mussels, crabs lobster or oysters! Because you have to know that they are all alive, and you can ween out the dead ones and throw them away. You don't know how long they were dead.

About the only shellfish that I'd by dead are shrimp.


~Corey123.


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## FraidKnot

kitchenelf said:
			
		

> I would venture to say that the sauce is just that - butter and garlic and NO cream.  The addition of basil and Parmesan cheese would be wonderful!  You could add the basil towards the end of cooking and of course the cheese to finish.



I'm pretty sure there is no cream.  The cryovac'd packages show just butter.  I suppose I could ask Scott what he does with them but he was in a bit of a pissy mood yesterday so I thought it would be best if I didn't bug him


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## FraidKnot

Corey123 said:
			
		

> Stuff like this should not be bought frozen, but should be bought fresh and alive. That way, you'll know that you are getting the mussels in their freshest state.



Easy for you to say!  I live in the Mid-South, the corner of Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.  Fresh seafood?  There is no such thing!


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## Caine

I had frozen mussels when I lived in Buffalo. That's why I moved to California.


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## Gretchen

These prepared mussels are just fine. They are cooked and then put in the sauce. If the top shells are on there it is just for "show"--and weight.
Mussels must be alive when cooked--when you get a bag of mussels, you throw away the ones that are open (and won't clam back up when ticked with a spoon). They are dead dead dead.


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## kitchenelf

Caine said:
			
		

> I had frozen mussels when I lived in Buffalo. That's why I moved to California.



And that's why California is going to break off and drift away one day!!!!  

I wonder if you could just stick these in a pot of boiling water (while in the sealed bag of course) then pour into a bowl?  With a big ol' loaf of crusty bread I'd be calling it dinner!!!  (and a glass of wine, of course).  I love to top them with chopped fresh tomatoes after I put them in the bowl too.


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## FraidKnot

kitchenelf said:
			
		

> And that's why California is going to break off and drift away one day!!!!
> 
> I wonder if you could just stick these in a pot of boiling water (while in the sealed bag of course) then pour into a bowl?  With a big ol' loaf of crusty bread I'd be calling it dinner!!!  (and a glass of wine, of course).  I love to top them with chopped fresh tomatoes after I put them in the bowl too.


I'm not convinced the bag is of boiling quality, if you know what I mean.  I'd be afraid it would melt down then I'd have a pot filled with plastic-coated butter & garlic sauced mussels


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## Gretchen

When we have had these, I have taken them out of the bag, put them in a bowl and heated in the microwave, or in a roasting pan in the oven.


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## Corey123

Were they tough at all?


~Corey123.


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## kitchenelf

FraidKnot said:
			
		

> I'm not convinced the bag is of boiling quality, if you know what I mean.  I'd be afraid it would melt down then I'd have a pot filled with plastic-coated butter & garlic sauced mussels



lol - Yes, you would know if it was like the Food Saver bags or not.  If it was the Food Saver bags then no problem.  Questionable?  I don't think they make a cheese to cover that taste!  

I agree with the heating in the microwave - if I had the choice between heating in a food saver bag or the microwave I'd choose in water in the food saver bag.  Either way though the job gets done.  Everyone has their own preferences.


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## auntdot

Have never had frozen mussels.

But about recipes my favorite is mussels meuniere.

Just Google for recipes, I tried and apoligize but had problems with posting the link (I hate that, but am not very computer literate).

It is very simple and has white wine, shallots, some oil, butter, and parsley.

Served with a crusty bread and one is in heaven.


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## Corey123

They're already cooked?

Be careful that you don't heat them up too much, as they could start to get tough!


~Corey123.


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## Paolita

Hi everyone:

I live in Belgium and here mussels are one of the typical dishes. I might ad it is THE dish. In fact I had some this weekend. 

Mussels that don't open, mean they are bad. I remember telling my father this once and he is so stubborn he went on and opened it. (It took him quite some time, though. They seem to be sealed) When he finally got it open, the mussel looked black and it stinked! So I guess it's nature's way of saying don't eat that, it's rotten.

Here in Belgium they boil them in water or broth and add different kids of spices. I had mine marinated in white wine. My father in law ate some provençale and the menu offered spicy and garlic ones. As soon as they are cooked (it takes about 5-7 minutes for them to open in boiling water), they are served with french fries on the side. By the way french fries are actual belgian. But when these were invented, Belgium was still part of France. Belgians have found a nice simple way to eat mussels without having to struggle with a fork. You take your first shell and using your fork take out the mussel and then use this shell to eat the rest of your mussels. Its like a clasp and works perfectly. 

I also love cooking mussels and serving them over linguini. This is in fact a typical Italian dish. You marinate them in some tomato and garlic sauce or simply with butter and fresh herbs and serve them over a bed of linguini. Add some fresh parmesan cheese. MMMMMMMMM I'm getting quite hungry now!


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