Mussels - Jeremy's Take

So, after much searching I finally found some mussels in the grocery store to make the recipe listed 2 posts ago. I was definitely looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the grocery store didn't have chorizo, so I went with hot italian sausage instead. When I began rinsing off the mussels, a bunch of them didn't close, so I knew they were dead and inedible. I will also admit I was getting slightly grossed out by the mussels themselves. It's one thing to order them and they come out all nice and pretty, it's another when you're tapping them to see if they close so you know they're alive when you cook them. Here's a few pics of the process:

And here's the finished product below. Sorry the pictures are a little blurry. And, yes, I have them in a big frying pan as I realized I don't have any larger serving bowls.

So, thoughts. This was actually pretty tasty. I'm sure it would've been more so if I hadn't been slightly turned off the idea of mussels by the process. If I could change one thing I would let the broth concentrate a little longer with the sausage before adding the mussels. I think that would help it develop a little more flavor. All in all, it was pretty good, though. On a side note, I halfed the recipe and still had WAY too much food. So, my big piece of advice would be, invite some friends over before you make this.