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Heat a large cast-iron or heavy steel skillet over high heat for about 5 minutes, or until a few drops of water dance across the surface.
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Add the mussels to the skillet in one layer (your pan may fit more or less than 1 1/2 pounds; use only as many as will fit comfortably or use 2 pans).
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Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the mussels begin to open.
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The mussels are done when theyre all open and their juices have run out and evaporated in the hot pan.
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Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately, in the pan.
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Black Skillet Clams or Oysters: This dish can be made with hardshell clamslittlenecks, cherrystones, or quahogsor with oysters.
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(Softshell clams, or steamers, are too sandy for this treatment.)
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Be sure to wash the shells of any of these mollusks very well and discard any whose shells are open or cracked.
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As with the mussels, they are done when their shells open.
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To add a slightly different flavor:
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When the mussels begin to open, add 4 cloves of crushed, peeled garlic to the pan, shaking the pan as directed.
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Gently melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter in a small saucepan.
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(If you like, add Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste, along with the juice of a lemon.)
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Serve it alongside the pan of mussels.
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To eat, remove a mussel from its shell, dip into the butter, then rub up some of the dried juices from the bottom of the skillet.
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Every year, we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel farming capital of North America.
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These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going over), with very few rejects and plump meat.
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Wild mussels are far tastier but harder to clean.
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When cleaning mussels, discard any with broken shells.
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If the mussels have beardsthe hairy vegetative growth that is attached to the shelltrim them off.
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Those mussels that remain closed after the majority have been steamed open can be pried open with a knife (a butter knife works fine) at the table.
