While holed up in a studio just outside of Seattle recording his band's fifth full-length, the lovely Lucky, Nada Surf’s bassist Daniel Lorca made dinner each and every night. “They were mostly complex pasta dishes,” singer-guitarist Matthew Caws, revealed. "And they were awesome." Here, Lorca shares one of the (non-pasta) meals he made during the recording sessions--maybe more such feasts will fuel the Brooklyn trio on its tour, which was kicked off in its home borough last night.

Thai Fusion Mussels by Daniel Lorca

In a large heavy stock pot, start with a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil and butter. Once the butter has melted add two cups of chopped shallots and stir until golden.

Add two or three very thinly sliced stalks of lemongrass and several tablespoons of green curry paste, stir until it starts browning, then add two cups of dry vermouth and several tablespoons of palm sugar (or regular). Stir until sugar is dissolved and the sauce has thickened a bit, then add one or two cans of Thai coconut milk. Once it all comes to a boil, add thickly sliced carrots and red or green peppers, and the clean mussels, then cover the pot. Once steam starts to escape, stir the mussels to coat them evenly, cover again and cook for about 3 minutes, remove lid, add copious quantities of fresh Thai basil, stir again and serve, making sure you get to the large amounts of broth at the bottom of the pot.