Curried Mussels

Wanted fish but had "flesh" fish recently, so decided to pick up some mussels, and glad for it! Trolled around for a recipe that could be adapted to fit the contents of my fridge and found a Curried Mussel recipe from my 1973 Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery that I could modify.

Recipe:
(Serves 2)
2 lbs mussels in the shell
1 t salt
1/4 c butter
3 oz shallots
1/2 md green pepper
1/2 c dry sherry
1/4 t dry thyme
2 t curry powder
1/4 c sour cream
Clean and debeard the mussels. Picture above shows the "keepers" versus the ones I needed to dump because of broken shells or questionable life force. Mince the shallots and green pepper.

Put 1" water in a large kettle. Add salt. Bring to a boil, add the mussels and steam 3 min. Drain, reserving the broth. Picture below shows the mussels out of the shell and some of the rest of the mis en place.Remove the mussels from the shells. Blend the curry powder with 1/4 c mussel broth.

In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the pepper and shallots and saute 3 min. Add sherry and thyme. Add the curry powder/broth mix. Stir and saute 5 min. Add mussels and combine. Picture above shows it in process. Turn off heat. Mix in sour cream. Serve hot.

Eating Notes: The cookbook says to serve over toast, but since I'm avoiding wheat I didn't. We thought it was pretty incredible as is. But it definitely would work with bread. I'd suggest something a bit acidic, like sourdough, to balance the mouth feel of the curry-sour cream mix.