Thai Green Curry Mussels

Last night we celebrated Wayne's birthday at Shiro's Sushi. His birthday is not until Tuesday but we wanted to go out and get some sushi. Probably because we have been craving it. By far, this is our favorite restaurant out here. The sushi is phenomenal. I mean, the first time we went out here to Seattle, we got this Norwegian Mackerel at Shiros and it was like butter. Oh man...so delicious! My mouth is salivating thinking about it.

We got omakase and I thought Wayne was going to drift off in a food coma! He got 17 pieces of sushi/sashimi! Omakase is nice because you get to see the sushi chef's flair. Plus most of the fish is market price so super fresh! The fish from Puget Sound were really delicious. I got a blackened cod that had been marinated in sake and miso. Oh man, that was probably my favorite of the night. .Wayne really liked the 4 levels of fresh tuna he got. They presented it as the tail, middle, belly and upper part of the fish. That way you can taste the full flavors of the one tuna. As for customer service, I really liked it. The waiter took notice that I said it was Wayne's birthday and he came out with a birthday flan for Wayne at the end! In short, super delicious sushi! I don't think I can go back to the Midwest and eat sushi or seafood. It's not the same once you have fresh fish out west!

Then today, we woke up pretty early today and decided to venture out and get some Crumpets from The Crumpet Shop. The last time we went there, we got a lemon curd crumpet. Omg that was so good. I got a hazelnut butter crumpet this time around. It was also really good but not as good as the lemon curd. Anyways,  after breakfast, we walked around Pike and the Elliot Bay Trail.

Since we were out and about so early, we decided to go to the Seattle Aquarium. We walked past it right when it opened at 9:30am and thought why the heck not. It was well worth the money as we got some extra entertainment. There was a guy (probably in his thirties) was super excited to go in the aquarium.  He kept pacing the doors until they opened and when they opened, he sprinted to go inside. I mean, seriously. He full out sprinted to the door. I did not even see a kid that excited to go in and see fishes. It was pretty amusing.

I think he was in a good number of photos I took. He was all over the place...
While we walked throughout the aquarium the dude kept running around the place. We think he might have been high (despite it being 10:00am) as it would explain his erratic/hyper behavior. Or then again, he might just REALLY like fish. I found it pretty funny. One of the girls that worked there jutted towards us. He had been talking to her non-stop, so she threw out the educational seal fur coat (she was showing the kids as they walked by) and asked me if I wanted to touch it.

Poor girl, her eyes had the "Please don't have me talk to this guy any longer" look in them. So I pretended to be interested in learning about seals so she wouldn't need to keep talking directly him. Wayne laughed on how a date must be with the guy. Besides that entertainment, we enjoyed wandering around before all the crazy families and children arrived. It was smaller than Chicago's and not as nearly as impressive as San Francisco's aquarium. But I will say, it was really neat they had pool exhibits where you could touch the sea animals. We touched a sea urchin, starfish and some other creatures.

Poking a sea urchin felt weird.

Wayne and the Starfishes

Jellies!

We found Nemo!
After the aquarium, we decided to go on the Seattle Great Wheel. I was excited. I mean yeah, it's a tourist trap. But you might as well try it once! Besides, I was excited for the views. It was a lot smoother than Chicago's Ferris Wheel. Plus they took you around more times. I remember Chicago was like 2 times around then they kicked you off. While Seattle's Ferris Wheel took you around 4 times. The view was breathtaking. I can't get over the fact I live near the ocean and the mountains! 

Before I get on the ride...

He's so cute hehe.

The view of the city

Then for dinner I made  ZenBelly's Paleo Thai Green Curry Mussels. I've never cooked mussels before so I didn't realize you had to put ice over them to keep them fresh and alive. So, we lost a good chunk of the mussels because they were all dead. womp womp womp :(

Cleaning the mussels. They're bad if they are opened while if they are still closed then you can still use them. We had to de-beard some of them too. I guess, I'll just need to make sure I prep them with ice before and buy cleaner ones. 

The good mussels we had left were going to have to do for now. I chopped up some lemongrass and ginger. I've never used lemongrass before but it was fairly easy to prepare and smelled pretty good.  Then I added the lemongrass and ginger to the pot with a bit of coconut oil.  I let the simmer and prepared the broth. Pretty much it was some coconut milk, two jalapeno peppers and a good helping of chicken broth. 

I love ginger. Wayne doesn't care for it too much because growing up he often got the big chunk in his stir fry or soup. Garlic and ginger are two of my favorite seasonings. I admit, too much can ruin a dish, but a little bit of ginger can go a long way and change the flavor palette. 

Then I added some Thai Green Curry Paste, threw in the good mussels and I boiled the broth until the good mussels popped open! It was pretty easy.

Ta-da! Finished Product. Not bad to a eventful weekend. I don't think I would make this again though. It took a lot of time to clean the mussels and wasn't enough for eat for dinner. I had to make something on the side to satisfy our tummies. But I could see if I had people over for dinner, this would be a good appetizer. 

Simone Miller's cookbook has been on my list of books to get for a while. I love the fact that she is self taught chef and started her own gluten-free catering business. To read more about her and read her blog click here. I'm sure I'll have to dapple again in her cookbook. I think it just was a disappointment, I didn't take care of the mussels and couldn't salvage them all. Oh well, you live and you learn! :)
Stay tuned for more posts.

Emma