Freshness

 There was a time when picking up a couple packages of the white wine mussels in the frozen foods section of Sprouts filled in the seafood gap.

Keep in mind, we live in New Mexico. Fish is super duper expensive and kind of sketchy here, even at Whole Foods, ok, especially at Whole Foods. I love them for some stuff, but Bezos...grrrr.. To their credit, the seafood counter professionals take pride in their work. They handpicked me two pounds of their fresh mussels today, and they did a great job. 

So getting fresh fish/seafood is a treat. And I had become a bit lazy relying on those prepared white wine steamed mussels.

But I've gotten fresh. With mussels. And white wine sauce. Turns out a little butter, shallots, garlic, capers, white wine, lemon juice and little time are all it takes to prep a great sauce. And then drop in the live mussels for a few minutes to (hopefully) painlessly expire and become part of our dinner.

They were fabulous. Plump. Juicy. Winey. Buttery. With a sauce that soaked beautifully into my hubby's signature rosemary sourdough garlic bread. And worked with steamed artichokes. And a crispy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Yes, there is a difference. A big difference. And the total time spent cooking is just about 5 more minutes. 

Fresh wins again.

Hugs, 

Stevie