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Preparation time
overnight
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Cooking time
10 to 30 mins
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Serves
Serves 2
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Ingredients
For the green powder
- 200g/7oz soft herbs, such as chervil, basil and parsley
For the shellfish
- 200g/7oz mussels
- 200g/7oz cockles
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 100ml/3½fl oz white wine
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
For the mussel butter
- 30g/1oz unsalted butter, softened
- small handful watercress, blanched, refreshed and chopped
- small pinch curry powder
- 2g fresh fennel, finely chopped
- squeeze lemon juice
- pinch sea salt
For the mussel sauce
- 50g/1¾oz crème fraîche
- 1 lime, juice only
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh chervil
For the cabbage
- ½ January King cabbage
- 50g/1¾oz chicken fat
- squeeze lemon juice
Method
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Preheat the oven to 90C (non-fan)/Gas ¼. Lay the herbs in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook for 1 hour or until dry. Once dried, blend to a fine powder, and place in a flour duster.
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To cook the shellfish, wash the mussels and remove any beards. Wash the cockles. Discard any open shellfish that do not close when given a sharp tap.
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In a hot pan add the olive oil and cook the garlic for 1 minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and the cockles and mussels. Cover with a lid.
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Cook for 2 minutes, or until the cockles and mussels have opened. Discard any that do not open.
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Pour through a colander lined with a muslin cloth into a clean pan. Keep the liquid to make the sauce. Pick out the shellfish. Chop 10g of the largest mussels for the mussel butter. Set aside the remaining shellfish.
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For the mussel butter, mix all the ingredients in a bowl with the 10g of chopped mussels.
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For the mussel sauce, in a saucepan, heat the shellfish cooking liquid until reduced to 50ml. Add the crème fraiche and lime juice. Add almost all the mussel butter, keeping back a tablespoon for the cabbage. Blend the sauce with a stick blender. Stir in the chives and chervil.
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For the cabbage, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Cut the cabbage into 8 wedges. Heat the chicken fat in an ovenproof, non-stick frying pan until hot. Fry the cabbage until coloured. Roast in the oven for 5–7 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and baste with a spoonful of mussel butter, until golden. Season with lemon juice and salt.
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To serve, place the cabbage in the middle of the plate. Reheat the shellfish in a little sauce, and spoon them over the cabbage. Pour over the remaining sauce and dust with the green powder.