I had a pet snail when I was little named Mauila. It came with 2 frogs that we named Elvis and Priscilla. When the frogs died we kept the snail, until we realized it hadn’t moved for quite a while, so we laid him to rest in the backyard. I was devastated (keep in mind I was probably 7 or 8). Years later I was scrolling through my twitter feed and one of the animal fact accounts I followed (weird, I know) had posted this “Fun Fact: Snails have the ability to sleep for up to 3 months!”. I buried Mauila alive…this would probably be okay for a normal snail, but I feel like it’s probably not so good for a snail that lives underwater. So for these reasons, and because think snails are kind of cute, I’ve never had escargot. I’m sure if I didn’t have this weird connection to Mauila and snails that I would love it. It smells so good. Butter and garlic and herbs and crusty bread to soak it all up. Yum. Thankfully, I stumbled upon a recipe a few years ago similar to the one I’m sharing with you today (thank you Smitten Kitchen!), that sounded like escargot, without the dead snails bit. And it is REALLY GOOD.
*We bought the frogs and snail at Target..at the check out where they put gum and magazines.
Serves 2
- 200g white button mushrooms, stems chopped at base of mushroom so they sit flat.
- 75g butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 lemon wedge
- 3 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat your oven to 180º fan force
- In an overproof pan over medium heat, add your butter, olive oil, garlic and thyme leaves.
- Once butter is melted and fragrant add in your mushrooms, topside down.
- After one minute flip the mushrooms back so the stem is on the bottom of the pan.
- Place in center of the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes flip the mushrooms for a final time and cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Remove mushrooms from the oven and finish with lemon juice and parsley. Toss to combine.
- Serve hot with crusty bread.
Enjoy!
