Yet, whilst chilled oysters served naturally or with shallot and red wine vinaigrette remains the most popular option on its menu, Mussel Inn has noticed a growing trend in popularity of grilled oysters – and even oyster tempura.

Aphrodite and Eros

Matt Johansson, food and beverage manager at Mussel Inn, said: “According to Greek myth, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sprang forth from the sea on an oyster shell and gave birth to Eros, which is where word ‘aphrodisiac’ derives, and legendary lover Casanova always started a meal by eating 12 dozen oysters. That’s why we’re sure that our oysters will prove popular options on our menu this Valentine’s Day!

“Yet whilst I personally love them naturally with a sprinkle of lemon juice – they are so fresh that you can taste the sea water – our grilled oysters with gruyere cheese and bacon are amongst the most popular dishes on our menu. For novices I would recommend the oyster tempura, which has a delicious crispy coating and lends the oyster an appealing, velvety texture.

“Carefully nurtured in the sea lochs of the Scottish west coast, our hand selected and sustainably cultivated oysters grow more slowly than those from warmer waters, providing a richness and depth of taste that we believe is unique.”

Located at 61-65 Rose Street, Edinburgh and 157 Hope Street, Glasgow, the award-winning Mussel Inn is renowned for its passion for its offering of delicious locally sourced fresh seafood, providing excellent value for money and a quick and friendly service.

To book a table call Edinburgh on 0843 2892 481 or Glasgow on 0843 2892 283.

Stir fry tiger prawns

Sunflower oil
300ml Prawn stock
16 peeled and deveined prawns
120g egg noodles
200g stir fry mix – finely sliced peppers, courgettes, carrots and sugar snap peas
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
15g finely sliced ginger
40g shitake mushrooms
30g pak choi
120ml coconut milk
1 teaspoons of green curry paste
1 lime and chopped coriander to garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil for the egg noodles.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil in a wok or frying pan, add the tiger prawns to the wok and stir briskly for 20-30 seconds to colour. Remove the prawns from the wok and set aside until later on.

3. Add 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil to the same wok add the ginger and garlic. Sizzle for a few seconds – careful not to burn them. Add the stir fry mix, shitake mushroom and stir fry briskly for 30 second. Then add your prawn stock, coconut milk, green curry paste and simmer for 2 – 3 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, drop the noodles into the pan of boiling water, cover and remove from the heat. Leave to soak for 2 minutes, loosening them now and then with a fork.

5. Then add the prawns and pak choi to the wok and stir for 1 minute, drain the egg noodles and mix them in to the wok as well, serve straight away with a wedge of lime and sprinkle chopped coriander on top.

Gingerbread Houses from Mussel Inn

Ingredients

125g Butter
125g Caster sugar
60ml Cream
60ml Milk
125mlg Golden syrup
5g Ground cloves
5g Ground cinnamon
5g Bicarbonate of Soda
375g Flour

1. Add the butter, sugar, cream, milk and syrup to a saucepan and heat to 80C, stirring slowly.
2. Add the cloves, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and flour to the mixture and stir in.
3. Pour out onto a floured tray and allow to cool. When the gingerbread is cool, transfer to the fridge and leave overnight.
4. Roll the gingerbread out to 2.5mm and cut into hearts, stars, gingerbread men or just rounds.
5. Place on a papered baking tray and bake in a 200C oven.

Posh fish pie

The most experimental artist/printmaker showing is Silvana Maclean whose influence on the group cannot be ignored. Silvana is also a highly considered teacher. Silvana and her friend Sarah Keast both come from Moniaive Dumfriesshire. Sarah Keast is a very exciting printmaker.

Karen Lloyd, a trained textile designer, now paints and is also a printmaker. Two of Karen’s friends (they are all from Kendal) Janette Phillips and Annie Coxey, will also be exhibiting their mixed works.

Seabass with salsa

Doreen Boogert, from Edinburgh, has exhibited at the Mussel Inn Gallery many times will show a small collection of her most recent works. Doreen’s friend, Marion McFarlane has involved two of her friends, Janet McCrorie and Karen Rogers. Marion, Janet and Karen, all from Haddington are all interested in the moving figure.

Our final artist is Anne Plutshack. Anne lives part of the year in America and the rest in Edinburgh. Her works are mostly life paintings.

The exhibition will show life painting, landscapes, moving figures, food studies and still life, all in various styles and mediums so there’s something for everyone!

The private opening of the exhibition takes place on Saturday 3rd December from 11am until 1pm.  Canapés and wine will be served and there will be 25% discount off lunch in the restaurant on this date.

Moroccan Steamed Mussels with Coconut Milk

3 Whole Red chillies
3 Whole Green chillies
1 Small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp brown mustard seeds
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
20g fresh ginger, finely chopped
½ tsp of ground cumin
¼ tsp of ground coriander
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp tumeric
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
3 spring onions, sliced
Small bunch of coriander, chopped
80 ml olive oil
150 ml coconut milk
2kg mussels, cleaned
125 ml dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste

1. To make the Moroccan base, cut the chillies in half lengthways, cut off the stalk from the halves, carefully scrape out all the seeds and discard them, cut out any white membrane from the centre of each chilli, slice each piece of chilli into strips and bunch the strips together and cut across them. If you want maximum heat from the chillies leave the seeds and white membrane in the chillies.

2. Put the diced chillies into a small container, add your chopped onion, mustard seeds, chopped garlic, fresh ginger, olive and your mixed spices (this is best done the day before and left covered in the fridge, so all those wonderful flavours can infuse).

3. Place your pan on a high heat with some olive oil add four tbsps of the Moroccan mix (careful not to burn it) your mussels and white wine. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, shaking or stirring occasionally.

4. Once the mussels start to open, add the coconut milk cover again and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes or until the coconut milk starts to bubble. Add some of your chopped coriander (reserve some for garnish) and give everything a good stir.

5. To serve, ladle the mussels into warm bowls with the Moroccan and coconut milk sauce. Discard any mussels that have failed to open. Finely chop the spring onions, garnish the mussels with them and the reserved coriander.

Pan fried squid with Mediterranean salad and crispy pancetta

500ml water
1 tbsp salt
50g basil oil
150ml olive oil
4 slices of pancetta
170g mixed salad leaves, such as radicchio, lollo roso, oak leaf and endive
80g cucumber, peeled, deseeded and sliced
50g red onion, sliced
12 oven roasted tomatoes
400g squid
150g Parmesan shavings
Salt and pepper

1. Prepare the basil oil at least one hour in advance by brining 500ml of water to the boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Blanch the basil for 30 seconds in the boiling water and then remove it. Blend the blanched basil with 100ml of olive oil for 1 minute. Cover the infused basil oil and keep refrigerated until required.
2. Pre- heat the oven to 220C.
3. Place the pancetta on a baking sheet and lay another baking sheet on top to keep the pancetta from curling up. Cook for 12 minutes or until crisp, place the crisp slices on to kitchen paper and leave to cool.
4. Put the mixed leaves, cucumber and red onion in a large bowl with the oven roasted tomatoes and 4 table spoons of basil oil, season and toss so that everything is well coated. Divide the dressed salad between 4 serving plates.
5. Slit the squid along one side, open it out flat and score the inside to make a diamond pattern, taking care not to cut all the way through. Cut into 5cm pieces.
6. Heat a pan with the olive oil over a high heat then add the squid. Move the squid around the pan constantly for 2 minutes or until it starts to colour and curl up. Season the squid to taste with salt and pepper.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so former Daily Record journalist Laura Coventry has put down her pen and paper and picked up a camera. Instead of telling stories through the pages of a national newspaper, the keen photographer hopes to inspire and entertain with her collections of creative and quirky images, which include collections Blue Glasgow and The Girl in the Red Coat.

Photography by Laura Coventry

Growing up, Laura was rarely seen without a camera in her hand but it wasn’t until studying on a media degree course that her passion was realised. Then, faced with the prospect of redundancy in 2009, Glasgow-born Laura launched Waverley Photography as a “back-up plan”.

This summer, Laura took redundancy to concentrate on her photography business. Now she hopes visitors to her exhibition – which runs throughout October and November at the Mussel Inn – will enjoy viewing her images as much as she enjoyed taking them. You can see more of Laura’s photographs at
Waverley Photography.

Matt Johansson of Mussel Inn in Hope Street, Glasgow, devised the mini seafood platter dish so as to showcase the vast array of quality seafood that Scotland has to offer.

Mini seafood platter

Using rope-grown mussels supplied by farms belonging to the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG), the mini seafood platter also features coley, seabass, prawns and scallops, which are cooked in an intricate recipe that includes crème fraiche, white wine and tarragon.

Mr Johannson said: “Scotland offers some of the best seafood in the world – so it’s entirely appropriate to create this new recipe for Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight.”

Mussel Inn's Matt Johannson with Stephen Cameron of the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group

Stephen Cameron, the managing director of SSMG, said: “Mussels are fantastic quality at this time of year and taste superb, so we are delighted that Matt has come up with this exciting new dish that highlights the very best of Scottish seafood.

“We are enjoying a boom in sales at the moment because consumers are increasingly recognising the versatility of mussels in the kitchen. They are easy to cook and are also very healthy to eat being low in calories and fat.”

The Mini Seafood Platter will be on the lunch menu (£9.95 including a glass of wine) of Mussel Inn in Glasgow and Edinburgh over Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight (3 to 18 September). Or if you fancy having a go at making it yourself, here’s the Mini Seafood Platter recipe.

Mini seafood platter

Olive oil
150ml dry white wine
2 sea bass fillets, cut in half
160g cubed coley fillet
400g mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
4 king scallops
12 queen scallops in the shell
12 tiger prawns peeled and deveined
300ml fish stock
Half a lemon, cut into four
Crème fraiche
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Shellfish sauce

60g butter
350ml cooking juices from shellfish, such as mussels, clams and prawn shells
30g shallots, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, pressed
150ml dry white wine
50g tomato puree
250ml double cream
5g chopped tarragon
1 pinch saffron threads
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a sauce pan, melt the butter over a low heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sweat for 1 to 2 minutes until soft. Pour in the wine and reduce by half, then pour in the shellfish juices. Bring up to the boil, then lower the heat and cook gently, reducing the stock by two thirds.

2.Add the tomato puree, double cream, chopped tarragon and saffron threads.  Let the sauce bubble away gently for 10 minutes or until the sauce will lightly cover the back of a spoon. Then strain through a sieve and season to taste. Set the sauce aside ready for the next stage.

3. On a large baking tray place the four half sea bass fillets skin side up drizzle with some olive oil and season. Put them under the grill for 2 to 3 minutes.

4. In the mean time place a large sauce pan on a high heat. Add the dry white wine and bring it to the boil, then add the mussels and fish stock and cover, continue to boil. After a couple of minutes, when the mussels start to open, add the tiger prawns, cubed coley fillets and the shellfish sauce.

5. Remove the seabass fillets from the grill (they should have started to lightly colour) and set aside. Again, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until the sauce is smooth and glossy.

6. In a large frying pan heat some olive oil and sear your king scallops each side for 1 minute. Then add them and the queen scallops to your baking tray with your seabass, place under the grill for a further 3 to 4 minutes. The queen scallops should turn opaque and your seabass skin should be crisp.

7. Ladle the mussels, prawns, coley and sauce evenly between 4 warm bowls. Then arrange 3 Queen scallops, 1 king scallop and 1 half seabass on top of each bowl. Finish with a spoonful of crème fraiche and a lemon wedge.

Steamed West Coast Mussels with Blue Cheese and Bacon

2kg mussels, cleaned
80g shallots, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
150ml white wine
80g blue cheese, cubed
150ml double cream
Pinch of salt and pepper
120g unsmoked bacon, cooked and diced
1tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Enough fresh crusty bread for 4

1. Put the mussels, shallots, garlic and white wine into a pan, cover and place over a high heat for 3 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
2. Once the mussels start to open, add the blue cheese and cream. Cover again and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes until the cheese melts and cream begins to bubble. Discard any mussels that are still closed. Add the salt, pepper and bacon and give everything a good stir.
3. Ladle the mussels into two warm bowls, garnish with parsley and serve with fresh crusty bread.