The Marinated Seafood
When I worked in a Spanish restaurant in Seattle, my standard operating perfume was smoked paprika and garlic. It’s not a bad aroma to waft around, really. One of the key ways to combine these delicious flavors is in a tart marinade called escabeche. Conveniently, it’s also an excuse to cook a few extra mussels when you’re making a seafood dinner. After the mussels bathe in the brine overnight, you’ll have a delicious no-work snack waiting for you when you get home.
Extra ingredient: cooked mussels
Time: 5 minutes (5 minutes active)
Makes 4 appetizer servings (1 cup)
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
Fine sea salt to taste
3 or 4 thyme sprigs
1 cup cooked, shelled mussels
Cooking juices from the mussels, if available
Thinly sliced baguette to serve
1. In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar and 2 tablespoons water. Keep ready near the stovetop.
2. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, taking care to separate slices from one another. When the garlic just begins to brown at the edges, turn off the heat. Sprinkle in the smoked paprika, then quickly pour in the vinegar mixture. Be careful; the mixture will sputter. When the liquid has calmed down, whisk the mixture well and season with a pinch of salt.
3. Place the thyme sprigs and mussels in a 2-cup jar and pour the warm marinade over them. If you still have cooking juices left from the mussels, bring them to a boil in the pan, and cook until reduced to 1 or 2 tablespoons. Strain them into the mussel marinade and stir gently. Push the mussels down into the marinade; they should be covered by the juices. If not, top off with equal parts vinegar and water to cover. Seal the jar and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days.
4. Serve with slices of baguette.
VARIATIONS
- Change the seafood. This marinade is a great strategy for other leftover seafood, such as cooked, shelled clams; cooked, peeled shrimp; grilled calamari; or even chunks of cooked fish.
- Skip the seafood. You can use the marinade for vegetables as well: think sautéed whole mushrooms, braised celery or fennel, steamed carrots.
- Build a salad. Mussels are a beautiful accent in a salad: try a green salad of arugula with a few chunks of boiled potatoes and some of the mussels. You can whisk a scoop of the marinade with an extra bit of olive oil to use as a dressing.