French Night-Escargot

Our latest themed dinner party was French night and hosted at our house. We couldn't wait for this opportunity to play french music, drink all our french wine we literally carried on our backs through France, and feel thoroughly fancy...see that new dinnerware? Oh yeah.

Our menu was served in rounds and consisted of:

French Cheeses ( which made my house smell like a fart for a week) with fruit and bread.

Escargot ( provided by me and Aubrey- RECIPE BELOW)

French Onion Soup ( provided by me and Aubrey, too....recipe coming later)

Open Face Steak Sandwiches and garlic bread ( Tammy and John)

Coq a Vin ( Laura and Tanner)

Saffron Rice ( Mikaela)

Mashed Potatoes with Lemon and Rosemary ( April and Steven)

Apple Tarte ( April and Steven)

Blueberry Merlot Sorbet ( Mikaela)

Forgive me for my horrible pic but I was too busy devouring to snap a decent one:

Have you ever tried to make anyone eat Escargot? It's not easy. You have to rely on many tactics, not the least of which is peer pressure and the old line, "You'll never be able to say you had escargot!" Why does this work? Who ever tells their grandkids stories about the day they ate escargot? Well, we were successful in getting 8 out of 9 to try our version and got all around approval ( once, they stop thinking of it as a snail, of course.)

Escargot a La Bourginonne ( Adapted from Julesong at Recipezaar.com- as prepared by 13 Coins in Seattle)

Serves 8

1 cup of softened butter

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

2 shallots, minced well

2 garlic cloves, minced well ( I used 3)

2 tablespoons brandy

32 canned French Snails ( available at Reasors for a low price of $2.89 per 2 dozen, seriously)

32 snail shells ( we got 18 shells-also at Reasors- and prepared the rest in escargot dishes)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine butter, parsley, shallots, garlic, and brandy in a bowl and blend well. ( a food processor was really handy for all the mincing...this took all of 3 minutes.)

3. Place a snail in each shell cavity and fill the cavity with a good amount of the seasoned butter. ( If preparing in an escargot dish, fill each hole with butter and a snail...genius. We preffered the quality and texture of the snail prepared in the dish.)

4. Place on a baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the butter is bubbly.

5. Serve hot with bread!

All in all, these were definitely on par with any escargot I've ever had in France or out. I will totally make them again ( and find some victims to force them upon.) Who knew escargot was actually so inexpensive and easy? Go forth and impress everyone at your next dinner party!