Bastille Day Moules et Frites & Cookbook Contest

BASTILLE DAY 

Moules et Frites & Cookbook CONTEST

Today is Bastille Day - July 14, 2015

It's the day when the French celebrate their own Independence day with anniversary of the liberation of France by the storming of Bastille on July 14, 1789.

“Bastille Day” comes from the name of a medieval prison called Bastille, where political prisoners were held for arbitrary reasons and had no chance of appeal at the hands of Louis XVI’s royal government, according to France’s government website.   

In honour of Bastille Day and the fact that my mother is French and lived in Paris I decided to make one of her favourite dishes and something you can find in Rachel Khoo's cookbook  My Little French Kitchen.   
Yes I made Moules et Frites well I kind of cheated and picked up the frites because it wasn't worth making just for me but I did the mussels my way with a little influence from how my mom made them.

Here is my recipe for the Moules and you can get another recipe for the cooked Mussels in Rachel Khoo's cookbook along with her frites recipe.

Moules with Pernod

2 pounds of fresh uncooked mussels

1 lemon
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsps Pernod liqueur
1 tbsp olive oil
6 cherry tomatoes
1 stalk of celery
Parsley fresh or dried or Basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large Dutch Oven (Le Creuset)  heat on high and add the olive oil and then half of an onion roughly or finely chopped depending on whether you like to eat the vegetables.  Add the celery roughly chopped and the chili peppers salt and pepper and dried parsley.  Stir and sweat the onion a bit and then add the cloves of garlic finely chopped.  Add the tomatoes and squeeze half a lemon and toss in the other half.  Pour in the Pernod and then add the uncooked and cleaned mussels and cover the pot and let steam for 4 to 5 minutes.  
Serve immediately add some crusty white baguette or serve with the frites.  Set a bowl beside for the discarded shells.

*If you are using fresh herbs put them in last.

This really is fast food.  I walked over to Whole Foods and picked up the mussels and I was eating them about 20 minutes later and that included walking home and chopping up vegetables and cooking time.

GIVEAWAY!

To get you inspired to cook a French Dish I am giving away a copy of Rachel Khoo's Cookbook - My Little Paris Kitchen to get you started.

To WIN all you need to do is TWEET or INSTAGRAM  me at @LindaMatarasso with the Alternate French name for Bastille Day using the Hasthtag #starvingfoodie 

A Random Winner will be chosen based on correct answers on
FRIDAY JULY 17, 2015 at NOON.

* Cookbook sponsored by Raincoast Books