Moules à la Normande

EQUIPMENT: small pot, large pot with lid, wooden spoon

In all mussels recipes, all you really have to do is make sure that the mussels, when served, are reasonably coated with the sauce and are sitting in a bowl, steaming hot. (And in case you haven’t been paying attention: If they don’t open all the way, don’t eat ’em.)

But let’s say the boss is coming over for dinner, or a photographic team from Gourmet magazine is on its way to chronicle your swinging lifestyle. You might want to get artsy—and burn your fingers: When you yank your mussels off the fire, instead of just dumping them into a bowl—or eating them right out of the pot (both perfectly acceptable, fun ways to go)—you can stick your tender paws into the pot and quickly pick the mussels out and arrange them in a shallow, heated serving bowl. Spreading each shell open slightly and resting each mussel upright in a sort of tight floral or concentric pattern, starting with the outer layer and working inward and upward, you can (if you don’t burn your fingers too badly) make a cookbook-ready money-shot of a presentation that will have your guests thinking you do this all the time.

Just do it quickly. And give the sauce left in the pot a good shot of heat before pouring it over your erotically gaping mussels. If you do this in a restaurant, you can whack the customer another $2.50 for the same dish. So it might be worth a try.