Grilled Mussels With Cracked Black Pepper

This dish is as delicious as it is simple. There are only 2 ingredients in this recipe, so please use the BEST you can find. Michele, the instructor of the class, introduced me to a WONDERFUL black pepper. It is a delicious black pepper from Malaysia, where it is known as "Naturally Clean Black Pepper". You can find it at Penzeys.com where it is called "Sarawak Black Pepper". It has a floral dimension that other peppers lack and it is produced in an environmentally sound way, without the use of harmful chemicals and with no irradation. This will serve 4-6 as an appetizer.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2  lbs  fresh mussels
•  black pepper, in a mill (best quality)

Directions

1. Scrub the mussels, rinse in several changes of water and trim the beards, if any.
2. Heat a large skillet (cast iron is best) over high heat -- a DRY skillet.
3. When the skillet is very hot, put all of the mussels into it and shake the pan.
4. The mussels will begin to open immediately. It will sound almost like popcorn. This is the mussels opening up and releasing there juices into the hot pan.
5. Continue shaking the pan until all the mussels have opened. This should not take any more than 5 min at the most. They cook quickly and you don't want to overcook them.
6. Remove from the heat and season GENEROUSLY with black pepper.
7. Transfer the mussels in the skillet to a table or spoon the mussels into individual bowls.
8. Serve immediately.