Escargot -Backyard variety

The great snail escape -one day we awoke
to find runaway snails!

In preparation for the arrival of my family (the Hightowers) Dakota and I decided to take on a momentous project: escargot made from garden snails.  We began by collecting 24 of the larger snails that roam our backyard weed jungle.  England has plenty of snails to spare so it didn't take us more than 10 minutes to find enough. 

We deposited a few snails in old ice cream containers and buckets and started them on a strict vegetable regimen, cleansing the snails of any toxins that might be in their system.  We fed them new veggies and cleaned out their poop filled containers every day for 10 days to get them clean and healthy and as big as possible. 

Snail butter 

Snails without the shells

Right before death... sorry snails

Washing and feeding the snails

Finally the day my family was coming arrived and we prepared them for eating.  First we had to rinse off the snails and dunk them in boiling water for a few seconds to kill them.  Next we peeled each snail out of its shell with a fork.  It's incredible how their bodies are molded into a shell shape even when you pry them out.  Then we had to boil the shells several times and dry them.  At the same time we boiled the snails and a gross slimy film came up to the top of the water and we had to scrape it off.  The water turned bright green really fast and we had to change it a couple of times.  We then stuffed the shells with a little garlic herb butter and then the snail and some more butter and cooked them in the oven for a few minutes and served them. 

The taste test

They turned out pretty delicious... well everyone else thought so... I liked them except for the texture, but the herb butter part was delectable!