Smoked Mussels in Olive Oil

Weekend approaching and it looks set to be a cold one in the Mother city!
Here's how I make one of my favorite red wine and fire place pairings, smoked mussels

I get my mussels from our local fish monger uncleaned.
I prefer farmed mussels as they have less grit in them and the shells require far less cleaning. Not to mention that we have a world class aquaculture industry that monitors the quality of the fish closely so I can enjoy these jewels from the sea with complete peace of mind.

Start with bringing 500 ml water to a boil in a big pot.
Insert a steamer basket to hold the mussels.

In small batches add mussels and steam them till they just open. Then scoop them out and set aside to cool

With a sharp small knife scrape the mussels out of their shells.

I always try to make sure I get the "scallop" muscle.

This is time consuming at first but you will soon have a little production line going and the result is so worth it!

Arrange mussel meat on smoking tray and season with good sea salt.
I don't use Iodated salt as it tends to give a bitter flavor.

Next I smoke in batches checking every 45 min and drizzling with lemon juice and turning only once to get even smoke penetration. I use Oak wood chips from old wine barrels to smoke these. Lovely mix of hard wood and sweet wine aroma.

When the mussels reached the desired texture and smokey flavor I transfer it to steralised jars.
I also add a good pinch of salt and lots of fresh ground pepper and generous lashing of lemon juice.
Finish off with slivers of garlic and dill tips.
Cover with good olive oil.