Moules à la Marinière

I'm so excited I can hardly type. After talking about it for six months now, we finally board the long-haul flight for Paris tomorrow! I had the day off today, and instead of packing, I spent the afternoon gathering ingredients for this classic French dish. And in the spirit of vacation/indulgence, I ate it all by myself at 3:30 in the afternoon. It made me so incredibly happy—one of the simplest, most delicious dishes I've made in a long time. Make it as soon as possible!

We're hoping to shoot a Bon Appetempt-goes-to-Paris video during the trip, but for the next two weeks we'll basically be Internet and phone free. So, in the mean time, perhaps you'll want to...
watch this (It's streaming!)?
or make this?
or read this?

As Anna from the Coffee Break French podcast series would say: à bientôt!

Moules à la Marinière
Fresh Mussels Steamed open in Wine and Flavorings
very slightly adapted (to serve one or two people) from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
serves 1-2
1 cup light, dry white wine
1/4 cup minced shallots, or green onions, or very finely minced onions
4 parsley sprigs
1/8 teaspoon thyme
dash of pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 lbs. scrubbed, soaked mussels
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley

Bring all but the last two ingredients to boil in a 10-inch deep saute pan. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes to evaporate its alcohol and to reduce its volume slightly.

Add the mussels to the pan. Cover tightly and boil quickly over high heat. Frequently grasp the pan with both hands, your thumbs clamped to the cover, and toss the mussels in the pan in an up and down slightly jerky motion so the mussels will change levels and cook evenly. In about 5 minutes, the shells will swing open and the mussels are done.

With a big skimmer, dip the mussels into wide soup plates. Allow the cooking liquid to settle for a moment so any sand will sink to the bottom. Then ladle the liquid over the mussels, sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately with nice French bread and butter.