Welcome Guest @BarbaraRoss with Genevieve's Mussels #recipe #giveaway

 Today we're thrilled to bring back Barbara Ross, who is celebrating her third Maine Clambake Mystery, Musseled Out with a lovely recipe--and a giveaway of the new book! Welcome Barbara!

 

Barbara Ross: I’m excited about Musseled Out, the soon-to-be-released third book in my Maine Clambake Mystery series.

The book takes place in the run up to Columbus Day weekend, the traditional end of the season at the Snowden Family Clambake. Julia Snowden has successfully saved the business from bankruptcy and finally has time to think. Maybe too much time. Will she go back to her venture capital job in Manhattan, or stay in Busman’s Harbor, Maine?

There’s a fly in the ointment, though. Shifty David Thwing, The Mussel King, has been scouting for a place in town to offer a “dining experience.” Thwing’s executive chef, Genevieve Pelletier, is a full-on cooking prodigy, and it looks like they’ll provide formidable competition for the clambake. So when Thwing is found sleeping with the fishes, Julia’s brother-in-law, Sonny, becomes suspect #1.

I enjoyed creating the character of chef Genevieve Pelletier. My husband, Bill Carito, as always my cooking advisor, enjoyed creating her signature mussel dish.

Genevieve’s Signature Mussels

Genevieve Pelletier has built the reputation of her restaurants on her mussels, and if you make this dish you’ll see she certainly deserves the praise she gets for them. Genevieve serves this hearty dish as an appetizer, but it’s more than capable of carrying a meal as the entree.

6 ounces chorizo, divided. Half diced, half sliced into thin rounds

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

¾ cup onion

¼ cup celery, diced

¼ cup red pepper, diced

salt and pepper 

½ Tablespoon smoked paprika

1 cup diced tomatoes

½ Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

½ cup white wine

½ Tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ cup heavy cream

1-1½ pounds mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley for garnish

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a wide saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. 

Add the diced chorizo. Cook until lightly browned.

Stir in garlic, onion, celery, and red pepper.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in smoked paprika. Sauté for three to four minutes.

Stir in tomato and thyme, cover pot, and simmer together for three to five minutes.

Add wine and let bubble on high heat for about a minute.

Stir in mustard and heavy cream and cook another minute. Taste and add additional salt or pepper, if necessary.

Add mussels, cover pot, and cook for five minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Spoon mussels into bowl, pour sauce over, and garnish with parsley

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Clammed Up, Boiled Over and Musseled Out (which will be released on April 28). Clammed Up was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and was a finalist for the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Both Clammed Up and Boiled Over were nominated for the RT Book Reviews, Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Amateur Sleuth (2134 & 2014).

Barbara writes on the big front porch of the former Seafarer Inn at the head of the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. She blogs with a wonderful group of Maine mystery authors at Maine Crime Writers and with writers of New England-based cozy mysteries at Wicked Cozy Authors. You can reach her at her website www.maineclambakemysteries.com

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