Mussels! A la TDG!!

September 9, 2012 by ByXayLi Most Likely Just a Random Post!

So on Friday I purchased a bag of mussels for $4.00 at the fish market and on Saturday evening i got to work!!

I was so excited!! We all know about my love for Mussels. Bill (my teddy) and I have been wandering out for the past two years ordering mussels from different restaurants in NYC just to find out which has the best mussels. So far this lounge in the village called Affaire takes the cake!! With their $15 unlimited mussels!! With flavors that are so bold and amazingly tasty. This however inspired me to try mussels again.

I let them soak in cool water for approximately 20 mins so they could breathe and expel any sand that was caught in them still.

I then cleaned the beards off of them (which is a little hairy beard looking part of the mussel). When I figured I had let them soak long enough. I put a pot of water on to boil and added salt and garlic to the boiling water. Mmmmmm. I also added some milk. Just because! Lol.

You cant leave mussels on for too long. I left them in there for approx 6 mins. All the shells were opened by then. I knew I wanted to season then separately (being Trinidadian we season everything!!!!). After they were cooked. I strained them to get rid of anymore sand or particles. I rinsed my pot and threw the mussels back in!!

Here comes the good part!!
I quickly added, on a very slow fire, some butter, garlic, coconut milk and some curry powder and adobo to taste. Then turned off that fire and VOILA!!

Mmmmmmm. Sooo Goood!! Since i was in Chef BoyarXay mode. I whipped up some Spinach and Tomato pasta and dinner a la TDG (token dread girl) was served!

So my Garlic, coconut, curried Mussels and Spinach, tomato Pasta were a hit!

When are you coming to Dinner?

Xove,
Xay

Mussels and MUHSINAH!

August 13, 2011 by ByXayLi Its all in my mind!

Sooo the other night I attended the most amazing dinner party performance with two of my lovelies Will and Phiona!! (whose outfit deserves an entirely different post, because darling! she gave me life) We had such a blast!

It was in the Villiage at this dimly lit venue called Affaire. They had an open bar, where i lovingly splurged on Gin and juice, (mmmmmmm) and we had dinner. They had these awesomely delightful mussels!! In different flavors which were One of the highlights of my night, because i obviously love to eat!. The flavors were Parmesan and marinara, white wine, and Curry! Yumm. Well seasoned, well prepared, yessss! Pure mussely perfection.

The performance was by Grammy nominated, urban/suburban artist Muhsinah! (thanks William now i’m just addicted) I just cant have enough of her sound!
Her music literally transports you to another place…

It was as if we were in a sound chamber, in awe of some musical alien ruler, because her entire performance was so captivatingly trance like that she even wondered if she was playing in the “chamber” alone. Her voice….O so Breathtakingly beautiful. She performed a cover of Scatterbrain by Radiohead, Use somebody by Kings of Leon, and a few songs off of her addictive Gone EP. Seeing her live was so inspiring! Sigh.. I just love Art! Her fingers were making love to the piano, her voice wrapped around that love and Billy was surely engrossed in singing backup!! (Which he was extremely proud of) Lol.

She was also very sweet and interactive. You know… One of those artists that genuinely cares about their fans. She actually spent time with us and took a few pics.
More can be read about her at Muhsinah.com, Her Gone EP can also be downloaded there for free!
Freakishly Awesome Event!
Can’t wait to see her perform again! And I am also excited to see how she grows as an artist!