Moules-frites

Adapted from Bountiful [https://amzn.to/3SkQAk6] This is a great dish for entertaining as you can do pretty much everything in advance, up to where you add the wine to the pot. A few minutes before serving, simply reheat the herb-flecked wine and add the mussels. I make my French fries in my airfryer [https://www.davidlebovitz.com/the-actifry/], but I’ve linked to some recipes below if you’d like to tackle deep-fried homemade French fries. This version is called Moules à la marinière. If your mussels need to be cleaned and debearded, rinse the mussels under cold water to remove dirt or other debris, using a brush if necessary. Then pull off any beards, the stringy bits dangling from between the shells. After cooking, discard any mussels that don’t open before serving. If you don't want to use wine, you can use sparkling (apple) cider. If so, find one that's dry. (Martinelli's cider [https://www.martinellis.com/products/sparkling-cider/], in the U.S., is non-alcoholic, but is on the sweet side so you may want to add a squeeze of lemon juice.) The recipe can also be halved if you’re just serving two. The traditional way to enjoy mussels is to use the empty mussel shell from the first one you eat as pinchers to extract and remove the subsequent mussels. Serve with cold white wine, and bread with some heft to soak up the sauce.

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