THE DELIGHTS OF LILLE

On our way back from UK we stayed in the beautiful city of Lille in northern France  the shops are to die for, perfect for indulgence even if it was just post Christmas. After a busy morning shopping there is nothing nicer than to restore one's energy with a delicious lunch. We discovered the famous Aux Moules restaurant, you cannot book, you have to queue, we waited 20 minutes but wow it was worth it.  John choose Moules mariniere, I decided to go for the parsley, cream, garlic version. Just thinking about it brings back juicy memories, with chunks of baguette to soak up the juices. 

This is the easiest dish to make & deceptively filling. Simply Sauté a sliced shallot in butter, add as much diced garlic as you like. Add a glass of white wine, bring to a gentle boil, toss in 1 kilo of cleaned & de-bearded mussels, toss in the juices, lid on reduce the heat a touch, then about 4-5 minutes later check to see if all the mussels have opened, if necessary allow another minute. Any mussels which remain closed, discard. Pour in fresh cream to enrich the juices. Spoon into 2 bowls, sprinkle over chopped parsley for colour & texture, serve with lots of bread, cold beer & french fries, Or as in our photo serve in cooking pot which restaurants tend to serve to the table. A little tip - it's fun to eat the Moules with an empty mussel shell, simply use the two sides as pincers, then pull the mussels from the shell.