Elegant escargot easy enough for home cooks

Some restaurant dishes seem so elegant that the average home cook never even considers replicating them.

For me, escargot fell into this category until I found a reliable source for the snails and authentic but affordable dishes to cook and serve them in. Although the snails seem expensive for such a small quantity, I can prepare more than two portions of escargot for the same price I would pay for one in many a restaurant. Worldly as the dish comes off, it’s remarkably easy and fast to put together and requires practically no cooking.

But first the equipment. With its eight or so half-dollar-sized wells, a ceramic escargot dish ensures classic presentation and keeps each snail immersed in garlicky butter. These are surprisingly inexpensive, even at specialty shops like Allyson’s Kitchen in Ashland, where they sell for $6.95 apiece. Even if you’re kind enough to share your escargot, you probably want two dishes because the most likely source for snails will easily fill them, if not a third dish.

Say you’re at Allyson’s buying escargot dishes. Before you pay for them, trot downstairs to the gourmet foods section for your snails. A 7-ounce can, which holds about 18 extra-large helix snails, costs $11.85. These are imported from France, mind you. I’ve seen them for less at a few local grocery stores, including Albertsons.

“Canned?!” you might exclaim. It may seem like a compromise, but there’s hardly a restaurant in the United States that doesn’t serve canned escargot. And those shells? You can buy those, as well, for serving vehicles. I don’t prefer them, myself.

Once you get your dishes and snails home, it’s not long before you’ll be eating. Pop the top on the can and strain the snails. Rinse them briefly in cool water.

I typically start the escargot in a saucepan over medium-low heat on the stove with about half a stick of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Skim out the butter solids with a small, fine-mesh sieve and then add several cloves of crushed garlic, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and a half teaspoon or so of sea salt. Then portion the snails and butter-oil mixture into escargot dishes and place in a preheated, 375-degree oven. Bake until the butter is bubbly.

Allyson Holt, chef and owner of Allyson’s, poaches escargot first in some white wine and then transfers them to escargot dishes and tops with a compound of clarified butter, shallots and lemon zest. Always have more melted butter on hand, Allyson says, for dipping bread.

And remember, escargot shouldn’t be rubbery unless they were overcooked. A total of 10 minutes on the stove and in the oven is all it should take. 

Bon Appetit!