Grill-Roasted Mussels with Green Garlic and Sorrel

My Sundays are spent at the Newburyport Farmers' Market, selling my bakery items. While it's great to be outside and meeting people, one real drawback to selling at the market is that I don't get to shop at all. So imagine my pleasure at the end of last day's market when a boy ran up to me and handed me a bag of wild mussels (what a gift!). They were from Eastman's Fish Market, a fisherman-owned and operated seafood market in Seabrook, NH. Eastman's offer a CSF (Community Supported Fishery) program. They are a fantastic addition to our market.

Anyhoo, back to the mussels. It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I wanted to stay outside; so I decided to grill-roast the mussels. Grill-roasting is a great option for seafood in that the seafood can pick up the smokiness from the grill, but you're never in any danger of losing your meal through the grill grates.

My garden is loaded with sorrel and green garlic (immature garlic plants) so I decided I would use them as my primary flavorings. With a loaf of [my] olive bread from the market and a green salad it made a great dinner.

Grill-Roasted Mussels with Green Garlic and Sorrel

Two generous servings

• 2 lbs mussels, prepared for cooking: rinsed well, any beards removed, dead mussels discarded
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped green garlic (or 1 bunch scallions, chopped and 2 cloves minced garlic)
• 1 dried chile pod (optional)
• 1 cup sorrel, cut into thin strips (or minced herbs like parsley, dill, chives, and/or fennel)

Place a large cast iron skillet (12" or more) on a hot grill (I use a gas grill set on high). Let the skillet get super hot - leave it on the grill for 5-10 minutes.

Add the butter, green garlic and chile pod to the pan. The butter should sizzle up and start to melt very fast. Add the mussels to the skillet. Cover the grill. Let the mussels cook, giving them a stir every few minutes or so. My mussels were cooked through in a little less than 10 minutes. Yours may take more or less time depending on their size, their temperature when you started cooking, etc. Toss the sorrel over the cooked mussels and give it all a stir.

Serve the mussels in deep bowls with bread for dipping. These won't be super-soupy mussels because a lot of the liquid will simmer off on the grill, but the liquid that's left will be concentrated and very flavorful. You might want to add a sprinkle of salt if your mussels aren't briny enough.