Redemption.

After last night's debacle, I thought I needed to redeem myself, so I offer you New England Mussels-Saffron Chowder. First, I heat up my paprika.

Then, add a bit of vegetable oil, stir, and remove from heat. Keep this oil and all other infused oils refrigerated.

Rinse mussels well and discard any that are opened and won't close back up when you try to press them closed.

I add a cup of white wine with a splash of sherry, some garlic cloves, some parsley and rosemary from my garden, and about 1 1/2 - 2 pounds of mussels.

Cover and steam 3-4 minutes.

Here are my ingredients: celery, peppers, carrot, onion, garlic, home grown crushed and dried hot peppers, homemade Cajun seasoning, and saffron.

I chopped all the veggies INto a medium dice. Almost forgot the shrooms.

In the meantime, Mr. Hawthorne is picking and cleaning the beards off the mussels.

Sweat the onions and garlic in vegetable oil with salt and pepper until onions are translucent.

Next, add the celery , carrots, saffron, and Cajun seasoning.

Cook until veggies are slightly tender.

Add mushrooms and peppers and cook for a few minutes.

Now, add the white wine and mussel broth to deglaze the pan, then add in two diced potatoes.

Add in about 2 cups of clam juice. I used Ocean brand.

Simmer until taters are tender.

In a small pan, make a roux. 2 ounces butter and 2 ounces flour.

Cook the roux to get rid of the raw taste of the flour.

When the potatoes are tender, add the hot roux to the simmering soup.

Stir vigorously.

Add in 1/2 cup or more heavy cream.

Add the picked and cleaned mussels and simmer for a few minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add some squirts of paprika oil and serve.

Aaaaand, we have a winner.

Oh, I also added some chopped parsley from my garden.

Isn't this pretty?

This was purrfection!

Mr. Hawthorne seared some tuna fillets in an iron skillet, then finished them in the oven. I plated the fillet on a pool of Mustard Emulsion (4 TB Gray Poupon, 4 TB vegetable stock, 6 TB vegetable oil or light olive oil). Then I added a few squirts of my Basil/Celery Infused oil and my Paprika Oil. Add a few sauteed asparagus spears, and WALLAH!