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We first saw the
Moules Fromage Bleu dish made by Chef Teddy Folkman on the Food Network's
Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Bacon, blue cheese, white wine and mussels- what's not to like?
Of course, Chef Folkman beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay, but more importantly, he tempted our palates! And what other occasion could would be more perfect than a Valentine's Day dinner at home? Click
here for the recipe and to see a video of Chef Folkman preparing them himself.
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These mussels looked beautiful as Justin kept them chilled in ice water while preparing the mise en place ( the preparation of all of the ingredients). The recipe is quite simple and very delicious.
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We began by cooking the bacon- we used
Niman Ranch uncured, Applewood smoked bacon. If I could attach an aroma to this post, I would attach this beautifully fragrant aroma of smoky goodness that filled our kitchen. I believe the quality of the bacon and blue cheese is critical to this simple recipe.
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The shallots and mussels were tossed along with some sauvignon blanc and lemon juice.
You can see the mussels began to open becoming perfect pockets for the bacon and shallots.
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Finally, half of the blue cheese was melted in the broth. We used Maytag blue cheese. Once the mussels were opened, we added spinach from Full Belly Farms.
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We plated the mussels, added the rest of the blue cheese and salt and pepper and proceeded to enjoy this simple yet decadent dish with crusty bread. It was phenomenal.
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This dish is wonderful with pommes frites (thin french fries) which Justin has prepared in the past. But we were trying not to overindulge, so we had a fresh salad instead with lettuce from our Full Belly Farms farmshare.
It was splendid and we recommend that you try this simple, yet flavorful dish.