one filipino dish a week

I love baked mussels. Every time my mom made this I could eat the entire batch no matter how many there was. One of the things that I remember growing up was that there were times we couldn’t eat tahong because it was ‘red tide.’ The red tide in the Philippines, however, is probably associated to toxins in the water than an algal bloom. Mussels pretty much are garbage collectors and filter the water. So if there’s gross stuff in the water it’s not such a good idea to eat mussels.

When I saw mussels at the fish purveyor at the Union Square Greenmarket I was excited because it would be a perfect Saturday lunch.

Here’s how I made the baked tahong:

2lbs mussels
1 head garlic minced
1/2 lb Emmenthaler Cheese grated (aka Swiss Cheese - a nice cheddar will be a good substitute)
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 325F. Wash the mussels well. Get the gunk out of the shells. Boil the mussels in water until the open up. While the mussels are boiling, in a pan melt the butter and sweat the garlic… be sure not to brown it. Once the mussels have opened up, separate discard the half of the shell. Line mussels in a baking sheet. Top with the garlic and the cheese. Bake until the cheese melts.

This turned out really really good. The Girl and I really enjoyed the mussels. The garlic-y, cheesy mussels was perfect for lunch. We had San Angelo Pinot Grigio with the mussles.

The wine complemented the mussels real well. The refreshing wine washed down the mussels awesome. Can’t wait to have this again.

Eat Filipino Food!