Two treats today, one seasonal and one we often enjoy at all times of the year. We bought a kilo of cherries from a stall in the centre of Magalas. The cherry season is so short – the man whose tree they came from said he would be there again tomorrow but then his crop would be finished.
Sometimes I make clafoutis with cherries – almost exactly a year ago I put a recipe on the Food from the Mediterranean blog – but usually they’re so delicious that we eat them all raw, just as they are.
Mussels are an all-year-round delight and today we ate them cooked in one of our favourite ways – with chorizo, tomato and red wine sauce, and with one of our first red onions from the garden this year chopped raw on top once they were cooked.
For this dish, the mussels are cooked with a glass of red, rather than white, wine until the shells have all opened. Meanwhile we prepare a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, chopped chorizo and another glass of red wine to pour over the shells once they have been drained. All this needs is some chopped sweet (or red) onion if available, some crusty bread and another glass (or two) of red wine.
Sadly the birds seem to have eaten the cherries here, which is a shame because it’s the first year that the tree had any!
Those mussels look fantastic – I must try your recipe ;-)
Those pesky birds! They might have shared with you…next year perhaps?
It’s nearly cherry season here, I can hardly wait! Loving the idea of using red wine for the mussels too :)
The strong flavours of red wine, tomato and chorizo do go very well with mussels.
I’ve never heard, nor thought to use, red wine with mussels. This I must try! I live not that far from an area that is well-known for tart cherries. They’ll be coming into season in a couple weeks. They’re one of my favorite fruits of the season and Summer hasn’t really started until I bake a cherry pie with them. You chose a wonderful photo of cherries to start this post.
White wine is more usual, but red is good too. I love those tart cherries – great for pies and jams. Enjoy them when they arrive!
We eat a very similar mussel dish in the dining room of an eleveur des moules in the Anse d’Aiguillon. They taste even better when sitting in his quaint little restaurant looking over the sea. Thanks for reminding me of clafoutis:)
There’s nothing better than eating mussels while looking at the water where they grew.
It´s cherry time here too. Like you we mainly tend to eat them ra, but I will check out your clafoutis recipe as I adore that. Love what you did with the mussels – our red onions are just about ready too :)
As usual our seasons coincide so that you’re enjoying the same fruits and vegetables as we are here!
I love cherries! And the mussels look great!
We buy mussels most weekends at the market, or oysters. As for cherries the rubbish winter we had just wiped ours out this year :( Diane
I’ve never tried doing anything other than moules mariniere but i will have to try chorizo, tomato and red wine sauce after reading this.
thanks mally