I made this dish last night for dinner and it was delicious! Even though I am of Cuban heritage, I love and appreciate French cooking. I’ve been to Paris twice and fell in love with the Bistro’s, the culture and fashion.  It really is my favorite city. Okay back to the food.  I got this recipe from Patricia Wells Bistro cooking.  Here it is. Serves 4.

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup of creme fraiche or heavy cream ( used creme fraiche)

2 pounds of fresh mussels

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 cup of dry white wine (good wine, the one you drink) she made suggestions in her book

2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves

2 shallots minced

freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 225 to warm the four soup bowls and the soup terrine.

Combine the egg yolks with the creme fraiche in a small bowl, whisk till blended and set aside.

The mussels I bought were from Whole Foods, they were pretty much clear of sand, but I did rinse them well with cold water.

Melt the butter in a large skillet with cover over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook till soft about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mussels, wine, and thyme. Increase the heat to high and cover. Stirring a couple of times. It usually takes about 5 minutes for all the mussels to open up. Throw the ones that didn’t.  Remove from the heat and with a slotted spoon scoop the mussels into the warmed soup tureen cover and place back into oven.

Strain the mussel cooking liquid with a cheese cloth, this was to strain any sand. But I do remember watching Ina Garten on the food channel she pour water over the mussels or was it clams (?) and added flour and the sand was at the bottom of the bowl oh well I did follow the recipe. Return the mussel liquid to the pan, that’s been wiped off.   whisk in the creme fraiche and egg yolk mixture and reheat the sauce enough but not boiling. Pour the sauce over the mussels and sprinkle pepper and parsley.