Super Bowl Recipe: Lawn and Sea Stew

The following is the champion recipe for Lawn and Sea Stew, the 2011 One Pot Showdown created by Chef Matt Marcus and the Eatsie Boys.
 
Ingredients
  • 3 Pounds Mussels, bearded and cleaned
  • 1 Pound Purple Potatoes, cut in half
  • 4 Stalks Celery, Medium dice
  • 3 Carrots, Medium dice
  • 1 Onion, Medium dice
  • 1 Fennel bulb, Medium dice
  • 4 cloves of garlic, rough chop
  • 1 Pound Chorizo, loose
  • 2 Quart Chicken Stock
  • 2 pints Heavy Cream
  • 4 bottles Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer 
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Olive oil for cooking
Preparation of Lawn and Sea Stew
  • Place olive oil in a pot over medium heat with chopped garlic. 
  • Allow garlic to become aromatic, place cleaned mussels in the pot. 
  • Allow oil to coat mussels and add 2 bottles of Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer. 
  • Let it come to a boil. 
  • Begin to remove any mussels that begin to open.  You do not want to over cook the mussels and should be a little undercooked when they are removed. 
  • Allow the mussels to cool and strain and reserve the mussel juice left in the pot. 
  • In the same pot, begin to saute the chorizo.  The chorizo will release a lot of fat and this will be used as your fat for sweating your vegetables. 
  • When chorizo is cooked, begin by adding the potatoes first and cook for 4 minutes. 
  • Then add the rest of your vegetables.  Sweat the veggies until they loose some texture. 
  • Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. 
  • Add your remaining 2 bottles of Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer, chicken stock, and reserved mussel juice. 
  • Allow to simmer for 30 minutes with constant stirring. 
  • While the pot is simmering, begin shucking your mussels into a bowl reserving all meat and juice from the mussels.
  • After simmering time add the heavy cream and cook for another 20 minutes. 
  • After that add your mussel meat and any remaining juice left in the bowl. 
  • Cook for 15 minutes. 
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the lemon juice. 
  • The Chef says he usually reserves the sprigs from the fennel to use as garnish. 
  • Serve piping hot!