Mussels with Tomatoes, Herbs and Garlic (Moules Provençale)

Public Television has the best of the cooking shows these days. They aren't trying to hook people with a personality that pushes a marketing strategy. It's all about the food, the ingredients, and the techniques of some of the best chefs around - be they big TV personalities or not.

Yesterday I watched Jacques Pepin cooking up some mussels in a spicy red sauce with rice. While I didn't feel like trying that particular recipe, he did remind me of how much I love mussels. He also taught me a thing or two about using mussels, which I've only cooked one other time.

Before you cook your mussels, you want to know they are alive - they should be! If you are looking through your mussels, a closed shell is good. And you see some that are open, tap on the shell, or tap the shell on the counter. A live mussel will close up before your eyes. If a mussel doesn't close up, throw it away - it's dead.

Joe picked up a pound of mussels for me yesterday. I didn't want to make them yet, so I looked up the proper storage method. I didn't want to kill the little critters (which I did last time)! To keep them alive, make sure they are not in an airtight container. I took some online advice and put them in a bowl and covered with a damp towel. My mussels were still alive and well today - perfect for me to kill them!

I like the smaller mussels. When I've had larger mussels, I didn't think they had a lot of flavor, and they seemed rubbery. Here was my batch of happy small mussels: