Recipe for :

This recipe has been reproduced courtesy of John Quigley, chef and proprietor of Red Onion restaurant, Glasgow.

Red Onion is situated in the heart of Glasgow City Centre. The Chef/patron, John Quigley started his career in London’s West End where he quickly established himself and gained a reputation for excellent casual gourmet dining. He then took the opportunity to travel the world as a private chef to many rock stars and celebrities such as Bryan Adams, Tina Turner and The Bee Gees.

In 1996 John decided to move back to his hometown – Glasgow to put down roots. In the past 9 years John has opened and established numerous successful restaurants which have achieved international recognition. This year John, along with his wife Gillian, decided to open their own restaurant – Red Onion.

The following simple recipe focuses on the increasingly popular trend of matching food with beer. Mussels and beer make a perfect match and the sweet rich flavours of Kronenbourg Premier Cru works great with the tang of lemon and the zing of fresh chilli to create an ideal starter or light meal.

Ingredients

1 kilo of cleaned rope mussels
1 bottle of Kronenbourg Premier Cru
4 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 red chilli – chopped
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Small handful of chopped parsley
2 plum tomatoes coarsely chopped
1 small red onion sliced
2 oz / 50g unsalted butter

Method

• Simply place all ingredients in a heavy bottomed pot, cover with lid and steam until the mussels open.

• Strain the cooking liquid into a separate pan and boil until the liquid is reduced by one third.

• Then season this with salt and pepper, add butter and mussels back into the sauce and mix thoroughly.

• Divide between bowls and serve with a hearty piece of crusty bread to mop up the leftover sauce.

Serves: 2

Chef John Quigley
www.red-onion.co.uk