Mussels with Irish Cider Cream Sauce

This recipe allows for a great sharing bowl of comfort food, made superbly flavoursome with Irish cider, bacon & cream.

1. To prepare your mussels, place them in a bowl of cold water and sort through. Put any mussels that are open to one side. Tap each of these mussels against a hard surface and if they snap shut, the mussel is still alive and suitable to eat. If they stay open when tapped, discard them.
2. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium high heat alongside the bacon lardons.
3. Cook for a few minutes before adding the shallot & garlic. Stir these around for a few minutes and add the leaves of the thyme sprigs.
4. Add in the mustard, cider and stir. Allow the sauce to come to a steady simmer and add in the prepped mussels.
5. Turn up the heat and allow the mussels to steam until they have opened up, usually for about 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
6. Drain out the mussels into a colander, keeping the cooking liquid. Set aside the mussels and bring the pan back up to a medium heat, adding the cream to the cooking liquid.
7. Allow to come to a steady simmer & season to taste. Pour the creamy sauce over the mussels, sprinkle with parsley & serve immediately with crusty sourdough bread for serious dipping action!

4 ½ lbs fresh mussels

¼ stick butter

⅔ cups bacon lardons or streaky bacon, diced

1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

1 ½ cups cider

4 tbsp double cream

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Handful flat leaf parsley chopped

To serve:

Crusty bread

2kg fresh mussels

25g butter

125g bacon lardons or streaky bacon, diced