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Come bite our ribs and squeeze our mussels at the

October 14, 2006

You may have tried mussels in the past, and didn’t care for 
them. Sometimes it may have been that they were not 
de-bearded correctly (process of manually removing trashy 
attachments clinging to the outside of the shell that look 
like a beard), that have a very unpleasant taste if allowed 
to cook in the broth, or worst yet, to be consumed. 
 
With the advent of new techniques in harvesting mussels, 
this problem has been minimized greatly, and in some cases, 
totally eliminated. Most mussels found in supermarkets and 
wholesale seafood purveyors have already been de-bearded 
and ready for cooking.  
 
If you are a shellfish lover, but have left this particular 
one out of your repertoire for taste reasons, you should 
give mussels a second chance. 
 
After many trials with many 
different broths, we have found the perfect match for these 
tasty little freaks—they are a marriage made in heaven with 
our latest development-- A Coconut-Beer broth we concocted 
in the kitchen! Its so damn good, we are even disclosing 
our closely guarded recipe for it below, much to the 
annoyance of the kitchen staff, after all their hard work 
in developing it! 
 
 
There is also no risk in trying them tonight at Ripe’s bar. 
 
Why do you say? 
 
Well, that’s ‘cause we are giving them away “free” between 
4pm and 7:30pm this evening—“AT THE BAR ONLY” So once 
again, come on down tonight and flex your “mussels” at the 
bar. Did we mention that they slide down even better with 
a cold Corona with lime? And don’t forget to back it up 
wid a Piece of Toasted Hardough bread—a favorite at Ripe! 
 
 
Ripe’s Red Stripe Beer steamed mussels recipe: 
3 Cups fresh unopened mussels 
2 Cups Red Stripe Beer 
1 Cup Canned coconut milk 
3 Tablespoons chopped garlic 
2 Tablespoons Butter 
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro 
2 sprigs thyme 
½ Tablespoon chopped scotch bonnet pepper 
Salt & Pepper to taste 
 
Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Add garlic and sweat 
for 30 seconds until you smell the garlic. Add all other 
ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a 
simmer and cook till all 
mussels are opened, about 10 minutes. Discard all that do 
not open.  
Serve with your favorite bread, to sop up all that tasty 
broth after the mussels are done 
 
 
Braised Short Ribs  
 
Think of short ribs as oxtail without all the work.. Just a 
tasty chunk of meat hugging a wide, flat bone, begging to 
be braised slowly over a lazy fire, in a spicy red wine 
brown sauce for 2 and a half hours. They literally “SLIDE” 
off the bone by the time we’re done with ‘em..  
 
Short ribs uniquely possess the ability to have just the 
right amount of fat to lean, that makes it almost 
impossible to not be ridiculously tasty, regardless of how 
it is cooked.  
 
Just keep it on the fire long enough to become tender, as 
with any tougher cut of meat. Try them from our specials 
menu tonight—they are served with rice and peas and ripe 
plantains.  
Wipe your mouth please! 
 
C U TONITE!— 
 
P.S. Remember—you must get to the bar and order your 
“FREE” mussels appetizer BY 7:30pm---otherwise— 
as they say in JA— 
Yu get lef!