Smoked Mussels Escabeche + Anchovy Herb Butter Toast

I fell in love with escabeche (marinated fish, meat or vegetables in vinegar) while living in Barcelona. I first tried it when I found myself eating brunch alone on the side of the street below my apartment because my roommates failed to get up on time. I’m not one to miss a brunch plan. I couldn’t speak much Spanish, and the waiter couldn’t speak much English. I asked him to bring me two of the best dishes on the menu (in my very best broken Spanish), one of which was an escabeche dish. It was by far the best thing I’d eaten so far in Spain. After that day, vinegar marinated fish and vegetables quickly became a large portion of my diet over my time there.

If you know me, you know I am a pickle and pickled-fare lover. If anything is briny, tart, and salty, you will most likely find me eating it. And if there’s one thing that makes something pickled taste even better to me, it’s if it were smoked before being pickled. I just fiend over the flavor combination of smoky/charred and vinegar-ybriny/salty. When I saw the Patagonia Smoked Mussels in my favorite overpriced grocery store the other day, I couldn’t help myself but buy them with the intention of turning them into escabeche.

Within a week after I landed back home from Barcelona, I had moved into my temporary apartment in Chicago for the summer. While working as a line-cook for the first time, I took it upon myself to fully embrace the service industry lifestyle by finding a bar nearby that stayed open past my shift, befriending the bartenders, and frequenting it weekly post-work. The bar of my choice was Goodfunk. While it wasn’t a perfectly crappy dive bar (I had one of those too), it was an overly trendy but cool natural wine and tinned fish bar. They had this anchovy butter toast that was simply just butter on toast with anchovies on it that I still think about to this day.

I finally felt it was time to recreate it, and what better way than to use it as a vehicle for the mussels. Tinned fish on tinned fish, literally.

This toast is buttery, briny, salty, fresh, herbacous, crunchy, and a touch spicy. Texture-wise, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve eaten in a while. And the potato chips on top are just plain fun.

Smoked Mussels Escabeche + Anchovy Herb Butter Toast

Serves 2, with extra butter

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Wait Time: 2 hours-24 hours | Cook time: 10 minutes

Smoked Mussels Escabeche

• 1 tin Patagonia Smoked Mussels, packed in olive oil and broth* - or any brand of tinned smoked mussels

• 2 tbs. bell pepper (orange, red, or yellow), minced or very small diced

• 1/2 shallot, thinly sliced

• 1 1/2 tbs. parsley, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 3 tbs. white wine vinegar

• 3 tbs. rice wine vinegar

• 1 tbs. Calabrian chilis, minced (I used the crushed jar from Trader Joe’s)

• Pinch of both salt and white sugar

• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

*Living in a somewhat tiny apartment in New York, I don’t have the right space or equipment to smoke the mussels, which is why the Patagonia ones are my choice for this recipe. However, there are plenty of great recipes for smoked mussles on the internet, if you want to do it from scratch. Just remove the mussels from their shells and sub the broth/olive oil with olive oil and any juices from smoking the mussels.

Combine all ingredients in a container, including the broth from the mussels. Stir to combine, making sure the mussels are completely covered in liquid. Wrap tightly and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

Anchovy Herb Butter Toast

• 1 tbs. chives, finely sliced + more for garnish

• 1 tbs. parsley, finely chopped

• 3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed from stems

• 1/2 tbs. tarragon, finely chopped

• 1 tsp. dried oregano

• 8 anchovy filets, minced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 6 tbs. softened butter

• Pinch of salt

• Ciabatta bread

• Potato chips, crushed

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until fully combined and creamy. Slice ciabatta bread into 3/4 inch thick pieces. Spread a generous, even layer on both sides of each slice of bread. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Fry each piece of toast until golden-brown on both sides, moving to a rack on top of a sheet tray once golden-brown (about 2 minutes per side). Bake in the oven on the rack until the exterior is crispy for the most part but the interior is still soft (about 8-10 minutes). Let cool for a few minutes before topping with the mussels escabeche, crushed potato chips, and chives. Make sure to dip the bread in the leftover briny broth from the mussels.