Watch How to Cook Well with Rory O'Connell at 8:30pm on Tuesday evenings on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
This mousse is rich and delicious and should be served in small portions. The mussels can be replaced with shrimp or lobster. I have also served the mousse as a vegetable accompaniment with roast chicken and guinea fowl and firm-textured fish like sole, monkfish, turbot and brill.
The mousse can be prepared early in the day and cooked later. The Bretonne sauce is an excellent sauce to serve with the fish mentioned above.
Serves 6-8
Mousse
- 450 g leeks, sliced and washed
- 300ml Cream
- 3 Eggs
- Salt and pepper
- 20g Butter
Sauce
- 2 egg yolks
- 110 g butter
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped herbs; chives, parsley, thyme, chervil, tarragon
Mussels
- 36-48 fresh mussels
Method
- Melt the butter in a small low-sided saucepan and allow to foam. Add the leeks, toss in the butter and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a greaseproof paper and a tight fitting lid. Cook on a very gentle heat until the leeks are just tender.
- Drain the leeks and press off all excess liquid. Allow to cool for a few minutes and place in a blender and add the eggs and cream. Puree until smooth and taste to correct seasoning.
- Place the mousse mixture in the prepared moulds, filling the moulds to the top. When ready to cook, place the mousses in a bain marie. Half fill the bain marie with boiling water and cover tightly.
- Place in a moderate oven and cook for approx 20 minutes or until the mousses are just set.
- Remove from the oven and keep warm.
- Place the mussels in a clean frying pan. Cover with a lid and place on a low heat. They will gradually start to pop open. Remove the shells from the pan as soon as they open. Reserve the cooking liquid.
- When all the mussels are cooked, remove the beard and carefully remove from the shells and add to the mussel cooking liquid
- Place the egg yolks in a Pyrex bowl with the mustard and vinegar. Melt the butter and bring to a boil. Slowly drizzle the boiling butter on to the eggs, whisking all the time. The sauce will gradually begin to thicken. Continue until all of the melted butter has been added. Add the chopped herbs.
- Add the cooked mussels and some of the juice to the sauce. The sauce should be quite thin.
- Un-mould the mousses on to warm plates. Drizzle a little sauce and some mussels around and over each mousse. Garnish with a relevant herb, like fennel, dill or chervil.
- Serve immediately.
