Moules!

One of the things I love most about living in Montreal are the markets. It's so much fun to go to Jean Talon or Atwater to poke around and shop for fresh fruit, veggies, cheese, and fish.

I also discovered this week that there are some really nice gourmet food shops around the market at Jean Talon. I've been looking for salted preserved lemons for a while now, and was very excited to find them in a little cheese shop tucked behind the market. Along with some homemade harissa I got from a market stall, I finally had all the ingredients to make Jamie Oliver's Moroccan Mussels!

I absolutely love mussels, but for some reason have always been scared to cook them at home - I hav always thought they were finicky or tricky or something. Turns out I was very wrong. After continuing on with my obsession with Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals and seeing him make them, I decided to give them a try, and, like all of Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, these mussels were crazy easy to make. And super delicious! I don't need to ever go out for mussels again!

Jamie Oliver's Moroccan Mussels

(Jamie's 15 Minute Meals cookbook isn't out in Canada yet, so I had to cook along with the telly, this is the best I could do for the recipe - I also halved what Jamie made.)

Ingredients
1kg fresh mussels
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp harissa
1 garlic clove
1 preserved lemon
1 can of tomatoes
Pinch saffron
Salt and pepper
1 bunch cilantro

Method
Add harissa and crushed garlic to a large pan, over low heat. Meanwhile in a blender, blend together tomatoes, lemon, a splash of the preserved lemon brine, saffron, cilantro, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add tomato mixture to the harissa and garlic, and turn up heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, add mussels. Cover with tin foil and cook for 4 1/2 - 5 minutes. Once mussels are cooked, remove from heat, and add a few sprigs of fresh cilantro.

I served the mussels with Jamie's tzatziki salad and grilled toasties. Delicious!