Mussels with wine, cream and chilli

Mussels and clams are one of my all time favourite foods! This recipe is probaly my favourite, I cook it most often. It's a perfect romantic dinner for two or a decent starter for 4-5 people. All you need to go with these mussels is some fresh baguette to mop up the sauce and some white wine to drink along.


Ingredients:
1 kg of fresh mussels
1 large clove of garlic
1 shallot
1 chilli
300 ml of decent white wine
200 ml of cream (heavy cream is better, but to reduce fat I use the 12% cream)
some fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of butter + 1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt


I described how to handle mussels and clams here.
Carefully wash and clean the mussels. Throw away any mussels that are already open and don't close when you handle them and also broken ones. In a deep pan or pot heat up the butter and oil, add the finely chopped shallot and garlic and fry for 2 minutes on medium heat, add chilli and thyme. Turn the heat to maximum. Throw in the mussels, close the pot with a lid and shake it. Pour in the wine and let boil for 2-3 minutes without the lid, pour in the cream, add salt to taste and shake well again. Let cook for 2 more minutes. Remove any clams that haven't opened. Serve!
The prawns on the left were simply fried with some garlic infused olive oil.