Eating Garden Snails

Good Food guest Ken Albala once harvested 50 snails from his garden and ate them for dinner (hear about it this week on Good Food). He put them in a bucket and fed them oatmeal for several days. This purged them of toxins. They were then ready to cook…and then eat. Ken says they were quite delicious (read his blog post about it here). More about how to prepare snails in Sunset and I’ve got a classic recipe for snails, after the jump.

Ken Albala is the author of The Lost Art of Real Cooking.

Classic Escargots à la Bourguignonne

1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 Tablespoon minced shallot

1 7-ounce can snails, rinsed (or fresh, from the garden – see Sunset post on how to prepare)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Purée butter, garlic, parsley, and shallot in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide half the garlic butter among sterilized snail shells. Stuff with snails (1 per shell) and remaining garlic butter.

Bake 10 minutes.

From Epicurious