Moroccan Mussels, Tapenade Toasties & Cucumber Salad

Last weekend was dedicated to sea food.

My family and I really have travelled a lot, and we especially find delight in countries like Turkey, Tunis, Egypt and such, and have always wished and planned and talked about going to Morocco, but never really did anything about it.

It seems as that could change this summer, so I decided to prepare this meal as a sort of an introduction to the cuisine there, even though the real deal must be breathtaking.

Nevertheless this meal was close enough, and this is what I came up with:

I jumped right in and poured the tins of chopped tomatoes, the coriander, salt, pepper, lemon juice and the saffron into the processor and whizzed until smooth. 

Before I poured that in a large pan (emphasis on large, because the mussels are coming in now!), 

I squashed through the unpeeled garlic in my garlic crusher and put in the harrisa which I covered with two tbsp of olive oil. I set the fire up thus heated that up just a tiny bit before pouring in the newly processed sauce. 

Once the sauce is at boiling point, stir in the mussels (throwing away any that don't close when tapped), and I covered this with a regular lid, but Jamie says tin foil here, and a double layer too. 

While that was boiling of, I prepared my salad. 

I firstly washed my lettuce, and then cut into quarters. Using a box grater, I grated the cucumber, added a pinch of salt, and left aside for all the water to drain out. Once I thought the water was at its max. and it wasn't getting any better, I tossed and squeezed the grated cucumber to get rid of the excess salty liquid. 

In an extra bowl, I mixed the yoghurt, mint, lemon juice and salt and pepper, as Jamie really confusingly says to mix the cucumber with the yoghurt (?) something...but the picture doesn't look so, so I just arranged the cucumber on the salad and spooned the sauce over.

             

I was rather quick with my salad and I still had time with my mussels, so I heated up my grill pan and placed several pieces of a fresh ciabatta on top, turning when golden and charred. I used no oils whatsoever here. I quickly took out the tapenade and spread a thin layer over each and every one of them.

                             

Now I noticed my mussels had opened up which means they're done, so I turned the heat off, and placed them in a roasting tray I lined with tin foil to match the picture, as cooking them in that just wasn't possible for me and my kitchen.

I sprinkled over the coriander, as well as over everything else I assembled, and I was done!

(Jamie's recipe to come soon, there are clouds over the window I take pictures under, yikes!)