Escargot • Les Halles NYC
In honor of Bastille Day, I was going to make French toast for breakfast. But we didn’t have any syrup. So I just ate leftovers of last night’s pesto pasta and Italian sausage. I’m feeling a little guilty about that so I decided to share what can only be determined as the Frenchiest Food in the World: Escargot.
I love snails!!! The first time I ever tried escargot I was in seventh grade and my French teacher, Mr. Word, made some for the class. I spit it out. My taste buds have since grown up and I order escargot any time it is on the menu. I’m such a fan of escargot that for Christmas a couple years ago, Brad Pitt gave me snails and shells so I could make escargot at home. (The snails weren’t alive and crawling around the yard, they were in a can. But live snails would have been awesome. Maybe next year!)
Escargot is actually really easy to make. All you need to do is rinse the snails, pat them dry with a paper towel, stuff them into a shell, smother them in a garlicky butter mixture and then bake in the oven. I like this recipe from Epicurious. If you are fancy, you can bake them in escargot plates. Apparently, I must not be fancy because Brad Pitt didn’t give me any plates.* Just the snails & shells. So, I improvised and baked the little buggers in mini muffin tins. It worked perfectly.
From one can o’ snails we ended up with around 18 bites of escargot. That is a lot of snail for two people in one evening. We managed just fine, but I would recommend sharing with friends. For friends who aren’t too keen on eating snails: stuff some mushrooms into the shells and call it faux-cargot. And if those friends don’t like mushrooms either, find new friends.**
On that note, I wish you a Happy Bastille Day!
* If you decide to buy escargot plates, you might as well splurge on some escargot tongs, too. (Hint hint Brad Pitt! In case you are making a list for next Christmas!)
** Just kidding. Keep your friends.
PigTales 