Moules Mariniere

You want a pound or so of mussels per person. I'd highly suggest buying them from a seafood market. They will be cheaper and fresher than the grocery store.

Throw away any raw mussels that have broken shells or are dead. If the mussel feels very light compared to the others, it may be dead--toss it. Recipes often say to discard any open mussels, but live ones sometimes open up in the fridge. To solve this problem, take any partially opened raw mussels and tap them firmly on the counter. If they close up, they are good. If they don't react, they're dead so toss 'em.

This is a rough estimation, but I'd say you need about 1/4 - 1/3 cup wine per pound of mussels. Any white is fine, except Chardonnay which is too oaky. I'd suggest pinto gris/grigio or sauv blanc.

Also, many of these recipes call for adding cream, a traditional ingredient. I prefer it without, but feel free.

For two:

2 pounds mussels, rinsed and de-bearded (That means you want to tear off the hair-like stuff on the mussels. Usually supermarket mussels are already de-beared, but the fish market ones are not).
1/2-2/3 cups white wine
2 TB butter or olive oil (or a mix of the two)
1-3 cloves garlic chopped, depending on how much you like garlic
1-2 shallots chopped, depending on size
fresh herbs of your choice (thyme, rosemary, tarragon, fennel)
1 bay leaf
2-3 TB chopped flat leaf parsley
[1/4 cup heavy cream is traditional, but totally optional. In fact, I prefer to omit this.]

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the butter/oil at medium to a nice saute temp. Throw in the shallot and saute for 1-3 minutes, until they begin to smell good and become fairly limp and translucent. Add garlic, saute for another minute or two but avoid browning the garlic. Add the wine (and cream if you're using it), half of the herbs you're using, the bay leaf, parsley and some salt and pepper (the mussels will release some salt, so salt it less than you might think). Raise heat and bring this to a boil. Add mussels, cover the pot and turn the heat down to med or med-low. Steam mussels for 3 minutes. Check them and see if they are all open. (Sometimes the ones on top will be open and the lower ones are not.) When the large majority of mussels are opened, you're done. This should take less than 10 minutes, and may be done when you check them the first time. Add remaining herbs and parsley and stir. Discard any mussels that are not open, serve in bowls with plenty of broth (the best part) and either good crusty bread or Belgian style fries. (To avoid grit, you may strain the broth through a cheesecloth lined sieve before adding the final herbs. If you chose to add cream (1/4-1/2 cup), do that after you've strained but before the herbs).