Snails Menetrel / Escargots a la Menetrel
Submitted by Morley
Escargots baked in their shells with anchovy-spiked garlic herb butter, quatre-epices, and a breadcrumb crust. A bold French twist on classic Bourguignonne snails.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
8 minREADY
35 minThis is escargots a la Bourguignonne’s edgier cousin.
The butter here gets laced with anchovy fillets alongside the usual garlic, shallots, and parsley, plus quatre-epices, a West Indian spice blend that carries notes of pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove all at once.
Each snail gets tucked back into its shell between two plugs of that compound butter, then the whole tray gets hit with breadcrumbs and a splash of white wine before a quick blast in a hot oven.
Eight minutes later you’ve got bubbling, golden, impossibly fragrant escargots.
Kitchen Tips
- Push the butter into the shells firmly so it seals around the snail and melts evenly during baking.
- Quatre-epices can be found at specialty spice shops, or make your own by blending ground pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- The white wine is optional but recommended. It adds a layer of acidity that cuts through the richness of a full pound of butter.
Ingredients
Directions
Make snail butter by working the butter with a mixture of chopped parsley, garlic, shallots and anchovy fillets.
Season with the salt, pepper and spice, then work through a fine sieve.
(Quatre-epices is a plant from the Antilles (West Indies) whose fruit is at the same time reminiscent of pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove).
Place a piece of butter the size of a bean inside each snail shell.
Add the snail, then close up the shell with some more butter, pressing it down firmly.
Arrange the snails on a dish and moisten with the wine if liked.
Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and bake in a hot oven for 8 minutes.
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