I had more mussels than I really wanted for my Thai Style Mussel Soup, so I put half a dozen aside to make a little tapa dish of garlic mussels in breadcrumbs.

Donna Hay included a nice recipe for crumbed lemon and chive mussels in her Dec/Jan 2008 magazine. (The donna hay magazine is always worth getting!)

Donna Hay’s crumbed lemon and chive mussels

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (50g/1¾ oz) fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
• ¼ cup chopped chives
• sea salt and cracked pepper
• 60g (2 oz) butter, melted
• 1kg (2¼ lb) mussels, steamed and top shell removed

Method

Place the breadcrumbs, lemon rind, chives, salt, pepper and melted butter into a bowl and mix to combine. Divide the mixture over the tops of the mussels and place on a baking tray. Cook under a preheated grill for 4-6 minutes or until the breadcrumb topping is golden.

When I saw the photo of these I decided I’d definitely like to try. Here’s my version - all my ingredients are scaled down because I only used 6 mussels as opposed to Donna’s 1kg.

Not Delia’s Crumbed Mussels

Ingredients

• a handful of fresh breadcrumbs
• a tablespoon of soft butter - enough to hold the mixture together
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• a couple of tablespoons of chopped coriander
• a few slivers of red chilli
• a splash of lime juice

Method

Exactly the same as Donna’s. Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Put a spoonful on top on each mussel. Place under a hot grill until golden brown.

Cook’s Note: If you’re not sure about how to cook mussels, please see Mussels - a shut and open case, which explains how to ensure your mussels are OK to eat.

Steaming the mussels is also the first step of making mussel soup.

There’s a nice little recipe for tostaditas in Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell’s book, Canapes.

These are very quick and easy to make and make an attractive and tasty party snack.

For the tostaditas

(makes 24)

Ingredients

• 3 15cm (6 inch) flour tortillas
• ½ tbsp sunflower oil
• ¼ tsp salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mark 6). Brush the tortillas on one side with the oil. Cut each tortilla into 8 equal wedges using kitchen scissors or a serrated knife. Arrange oil side up in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until crisp, 5-7 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

(These can be made a few days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.)

For the salsa

Next, in the book, they use a roast corn salsa as a topping for the tostaditas. I didn’t have any corn handy so I made a tomato-based salsa topping instead.

Method

Simply dice some tomatoes, finely chop a red onion (or a couple of spring onions), and add a bunch of chopped coriander. Mix together in a bowl and season with the juice of a couple of limes and salt and pepper.

The salsa takes about five minutes to make.

Put a spoonful of salsa on to each tostadita.

Cook’s Note: Don’t put the salsa on to the tostaditas too soon as the tostaditas will go soggy. These party snacks need to be served soon after they’ve been assembled.

Canapés by Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell

Hardback, 168 pages
1999, Dorling Kindersley

ISBN 07513 0855 2
RRP: £14.99

Here’s a nice tapa dish that’s very quick and easy to prepare. There’s no cooking involved either, good for the no-cook recipe fans. I love cooking!

Ingredients

• a melon
• a packet of Parma ham
• skewers

(I was lucky enough to have both a sweet orange honeydew and the even sweeter green-coloured Japanese melon. The contrast in colour was nice but not essential.)

Method

Use a melon baller to make melon balls. (If you don’t have a melon baller then just make melon cubes. It tastes so nice no one will care what shape the melon pieces are.)

Thread the melon pieces and Parma ham onto a skewer.

That’s it! Now, how long did that take?