Mussels in a White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce

Last weekend was intense.  With B's birthday, it turned into a very expensive weekend for me.  We kicked off with a party Saturday night with a pre-game at my place complete with jalepeno poppers, southwest chicken egg rolls, jello shots, andre, and the like.  After that, what was supposed to be a dinner for four girls on Tuesday turned into me making fajitas, guacamole, and strawberry shortcake for 13.  Needless to say, I needed a break!

Friday night Miss Kitty came over with her adorable puppy Bernie.  He's beyond precious, and I would dognap him if B liked animals!  I cooked her dinner, crab cakes over salad and mussels in a white wine garlic butter sauce.  Whole Foods has been having a sale where you get a large bag of mussels for $5.99.  It's a fantastic deal because they are tasty, healthy, and so easy to prepare.  Just make sure you have cleaned and debearded the mussels first! 

Mussels in White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce
In a large saute pan melt four tablespoons of butter over medium heat
Add 4 cloves of garlic, minced through a garlic press
When the butter is melted, add your mussels to the pan
Add about 2 1/2 cups of white wine*, it should cover the mussels about half way
Cover and cook until all of the mussels have opened in their shells (about 7-10 minutes)
Scoop out, discarding any that don't open on their own
Serve with crusty bread and wine! 

*When I make this dish, I always use whatever wine I am drinking that night.  I used a sauvignon blanc, but you can also use a pinot grigio.  You don't want to use anything sweeter than that (a riesling would be terrible), and you know I will never recommend a chardonnay!  Some people will buy "cooking wine" but I would caution you away from that.  If you don't want to drink it, why would you put it in your food?