mussels with white wine, shallots, tomato, lovage

I’ve written about this terrific recipe before, and it was described by Sarah Dickerman in the New York Times in 2006

Unfortunately the picture was snapped before I added some of the extraordinary juices from the bottom of the pot, so the bivalves look a little high and dry here.

• two pounds of scrubbed mussels purchased from Blue Moon Fish from  in the Union Square Greenmarket, combined in a large heavy enameled pot with two cups of a variety of halved heirloom cherry tomatoes from Berried Treasures, half a cup of a good white wine, a few tablespoons of chopped shallots form Phillips Farm, three tablespoons of butter, a good amount of freshly-ground black pepper, and some coarsely-chopped lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, everything steamed over high heat for a few minutes, then served with thick slices of Trucio from Sullivan Street Bakery (a superb rustic sourdough bread with a dark crust)
• the wine was a New Zealand white, Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, 2013, from Marlborough