Smoked Mussels

Amazing, fresh and smoky in the mouth, a wonderful depth of a long smoke, absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

1.5kg mussels
1 cup dry vermouth or white wine
1 cup water
1/4 cup high quality olive oil or other oil

Method:

Make sure all the mussels are clean.

Debeard them now or cut the beard off after steaming the mussels.

Bring the vermouth and water to a boil and add some mussels in a single layer.

Cover and steam until they are open, which should take between a minute and 3 minutes. Move opened mussels to a bowl or baking sheet and add more fresh ones until you've steamed open all the mussels.

Strain the cooking liquid through a paper towel or cheesecloth (to remove all the debris) into a bowl. Set aside.

Use a small, sharp knife to remove the mussels from the shells, trying your best to get the little "scallop" muscle that holds the mussel in its shell -- it's tasty!

Use the knife to cut off the beard if you have not done so already. When it's done, drop each mussel into the strained broth. Make sure all the mussels soak for at least 20 minutes.

Fire up the smoker around 65°C. Smoke the mussels for 90 minutes to 2 hours -- you don't need a whole lot of time here, just enough to get a smoky flavour without overcooking the mussels. Don't let the smoker get too hot!

When they are done, toss the mussels in the oil and eat, or store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week. Or you can freeze what you don't eat.