Moules Marini��res in 5 Minutes and 260 words

I’m lucky enough to live and work near the bay of Le Mont Saint Michel –��France’s appellation contr��l��e Mussel hotbed (pun intended). From early June we cook these tasty little bivalves all the time. It’s one of the simplest dishes in the world to cook – you can even do it on the beach. It’s also��one of those recipes that’s quicker to make than to read – but here it is from my book Broke the Grape’s Joy…

���Right, Valentin,��� I said, cutting him short. ���I���ll go and get something from the market. You and Paul finish what you���re doing here, then get an onion, a clove of garlic and some parsley, and chop them up finely. I���ll be back in half an hour.���

Turk and I jumped in the car and sped off in the direction of Libourne.

Forty minutes later I returned to the ch��teau and burst through the door with a sack of Arcachon mussels in one hand, my keys in the other, and three baguettes wedged under my arm. Like a gaggle of hungry geese at feeding time, the youngsters, who had gathered in the kitchen, were clearly pleased to see me. I noted that Valentin had found and chopped the ingredients I���d asked him to prepare and that someone had opened a bottle of white wine.

���I heard the car on the drive, Jeanne,��� Paul said, ���I thought you���d fancy an aperitif.���

How thoughtful, I mused, taking a proffered glass. Valentin took the shellfish from me and started to clean them in the sink while Aim��e cut the bread into thick slices. I poured an immoderate dash of olive oil into the biggest of my heavy saucepans and added the onions and garlic which, once softened, I doused with a big glass of the wine. In went the mussels, and five minutes later we were settled at the kitchen table helping ourselves to a steaming pan of moules marini��res.

���Voila,��� I said dipping a crust of bread into the garlicky liquor, ���Fast food.���

Bon app��tit!!!