11 years ago today, I was celebrating my 21st birthday while visiting some of my closest friends in India. I distinctly remember the moment when my parents called to wish me and more importantly to also deliver the news that my sister had given birth to a little baby boy. His birthday is January 2nd and mine is the 3rd but since we were on two different continents in two different time zones, we celebrated our birthdays on the same day; he ended up being the best birthday present I ever received.
Since then, I have used Eshaan’s birthday as an excuse to start the celebrations early! This year after spending some quality time playing in the snow, Asha and I cooked up a fancy French inspired dinner of mussels in garlicky butter and white wine sauce. Alongside was a salad with a classic vinaigrette and some pretzel bread to mop up all that delicious sauce.
Eshaan, wish you were here to taste it! I have the next best thing for you – the recipe so that you can try making this at home! Yeahhh, it’s that easy.
Happy Birthday to us!
Mussels in White Wine Sauce
(serves 2 as the main course with salad and bread)
1lb mussels
1/4 cup good drinking white wine
2 heaping tablespoons of butter
2 garlic cloves or more
1/4 cup shallots
Fresh Parsley (dried parsley can be substituted)
salt and pepper to taste
Add butter to pan. Once the bubbles subside add shallots and cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and parsley and cook for another minute. Carefully add the white wine and salt and pepper to taste. Let the sauce simmer for two to three minutes. Add the mussels. Cover and steam for four minutes. Mussels should open completely; discard any that do not open.
The recipe can be easily doubled.
Happy Birthday!!!
Happy birthday!