Mussels in Coconut and Lemongrass Broth

I am such a bad blogger. Forgive me before I'm banished. Been so flat out at the moment with work, my brother's upcoming wedding (next week....so exciting!) and the rest of what life brings. It's been so long since I did a post but so glad to be back. Really need to catch up on my blog reading. Just doesn't feel the same. :(

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Now onto food and this recipe. I think I've said this before but yes not a big fan of mussels. However, this recipe here has such lovely flavours, mussels are forgiven for their existence. I love the combination of the coconut cream, the lemongrass and the beer. Can't wait to make it again.

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Recipe from Masterchef Magazine
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Ingredients (serves 4)
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4 eschalots
2 cloves garlic 
2 stalks lemongrass
2 red chillies (I used one, typical old me)
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
80ml peanut or vegetable oil
2 x 1 tablespoon blocks palm sugar (it's so much easier to buy the small blocks of palm sugar that you can find in supermarkets rather than the very large blocks you find in Asian grocers)
2 tablespoon fish sauce
330ml Asian beer
8 kaffir lime leaves
2kg pot-ready black mussels
400g can light coconut cream
1/2 cup Thai basil or coriander leaves
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Method
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1. Peel eschalots and garlic, then cut in half. Cut the white part from the lemongrass and roughly chop. Roughly chop the chillies. Process the eschalots, garlic, lemongrass, chillies, turmeric and oil in a food processor to form a paste.

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2. Place the paste in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring continuously, for 8 minutes or until fragrant. Add palm sugar and fish sauce, and stir for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Then add beer and lime leaves, and bring to the boil. Add mussels and cover the pan with a lid. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, for 5 minutes or until mussels open.

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3. Using tongs, divide opened mussels and cook any unopened mussels in the broth for a few more minutes or until they open, then add to bowls. Add coconut cream to the broth and bring to a simmer. Ladle broth over mussels. You can then serve it with Thai basil as a garnish along with lime cheeks. 

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