After spending a week in Montana, TD and I needed some time to recover.  So, we headed over to Vancouver for another week.

Vancouver is one of those  great cosmopolitan cities that doesn’t seem to know it’s  cool.  Or, maybe it knows it’s cool but is so cool it doesn’t need to have an attitude like New York, San Fransisco or Los Angeles.

We spent a very relaxing week taking in the sights, walking through every inch of Stanley Park and kayaking on the false creek.  And of course, we thoroughly ate and drank the city.  Our culinary adventures were as diverse as Vancouver its self and included Japadog, Dim Sum,  an impromptu ciccheti crawl (we crowned our own hotel bar the victor), my very first trip to Tim Hortons and a colorful if not slightly and delightfully abusive brunch.

If forced to pick a single favorite meal, it would have to be the Mussels Congolaise at Chambar.  Good poutine, those mussels were amazing!  I’m not sure how it evolved, but TD and I have sort of become moules frites groupies.  And, we’ve tried and made a lot of really bonne moules over the years.  However, the Congolaise version at Chambar pretty much blew everything I’d ever tried right out of the stock-pot.  The flavors were big, rich and had a seriously spicy punch.  Enjoyed with a couple of bottles of Saison Dupont, and TD and I were very happy tourists.

Some people bring back souveniers from trips.  I bring back recipes.  And, it didn’t take me long to find one for these little bi-valves.  Three important ingredients come together to make this dish stand-out.  The first is pureed chipotle peppers in adobo.  The second is coconut milk.  And the third is cilantro.

Combine with the briny mussels.

And a trio of ground and dried spices: peppercorn, cumin and coriander (but maybe fennel…stay-tuned).

And it is  like discovering a whole new level of flavor.

I will say that I don’t really understand the frite part of moules frite.  I’d much rather have grilled bread to mop-up all the delicious broth (really, this is the most important part of the whole dish).

Soundtrack: Pink Martini

This is a new tid-bit I’ve been meaning to include for months.  I always listen to music while cooking.  I don’t claim to have good–or even any taste at all when it comes to music, but I do sort of like to match it to what I’m making.  So, going forward, I’ll try to remember to include what I listened to while making, well, whatever it was, has been or will be. On the mussels congolaise evening,  we hustled around the kitchen drinking  gin and tonics and prepping the moules, to a little Pink Martini…j ne veux pas travailler, je ne veux pas dejeuner…Sympathique Video.

Mussels Congolaise

I took this recipe from food.com but found it on various blogs and they all credit it back to Chambar.

This will serve 2 as an appetizer.

Ingredients

• 1 lb mussels
• 1/4 red onion, julienned
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 C coconut milk
• 2 large roma tomates, diced (this wasn’t enough for us, but we love tomatoes)
• 1 TBS chipotle chile in adobo, pureed
• Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
• Juice from 1/2 of a lime
• 1/2 TBS coriander seed (ground or, grind it yourself)
• 1/2 TBS black pepper (ground or grind it yourself)
• 1/2 TBS cumin seed, toasted
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 TBS vegetable oil

• Remember to have everything ready before you begin heating the pot as mussels cook incredibly quickly.
• Clean the mussels and remove the beards.
• Heat heavy sauce pot on medium-high heat.  Add oil and saute the red onion and all ground spices for 3 minutes.  Add-in garlic and saute for an additional minute.
• Add mussels, coconut milk, tomatoes, chipotle, lemon and lime juices to the pot.  Cover and cook until mussels open (3-5 minutes).
• Garnish liberally with cilantro leaves.  Serve immediately!