Cooking Mussels?

[Humber]

We like mussels but the only kind I've ever cooked have been the ones frozen, in garlic butter. I assume if you had live mussels, you'd just cook them in a similar way until they opened, or is there more to it than that? Once when the power went out, I cooked the frozen kind on the barbecue on a metal pie plate and they were excellent that way, too.

[got_fish03]

For preparation, I would clean the mussels by soaking them in a fresh water for 20 minutes and debeard them before cooking. The shells open when they are boiled, then I would remove the meat from the shells (when cooled). I saute them along with garlic and onions in a 1/4 cup melted, unsalted butter. If desired, I would sprinkle some liquid seasoning to give taste to the mussels. It's an ideal viand along with a cup of rice for a hearty lunch or dinner.

[Humber]

Thanks for the suggestions, got_fish. I think every time I've had mussels so far, it was off the shell, sometimes in a pasta dish. I probably would have neglected the soaking part of the process if I hadn't read this.

[got_fish03]

Soaking the mussels in the water washes away the salty particles and remove the sand particles around its shell. I do eat mussels in a spaghetti marinara dish, it was very delicious the last time I had it at The Old Spaghetti House restaurant.