Escargot a la Bourguignonne

Escargot a la Bourguignonne is the dish that defines French bistro dining: plump snails tucked into their shells, sealed with a compound butter loaded with garlic, shallots, fresh parsley, and a splash of brandy, then baked until the butter is bubbling and fragrant.

The compound butter is everything. Softened butter gets worked together with finely chopped shallots, garlic, parsley, and brandy until smooth. Each snail goes into a shell first, then the cavity gets packed with butter. Twelve minutes in the oven and that butter melts into a sizzling, garlicky pool that’s half the reason people order this dish. The other half is soaking it up with crusty bread.

Canned French snails work beautifully here. They come pre-cooked and tender, so the oven time is just about heating through and melting the butter.

Pro Tips

• Chop the shallots and garlic as fine as possible. Coarse pieces won’t blend into the butter properly and create an uneven fill.
• Pack the butter firmly into each shell so it seals the snail inside. Loose butter will melt out and pool in the pan instead of staying with the snail.
• Serve on snail dishes with indentations, or set the shells on crumpled napkins or a bed of rock salt to keep them from tipping and spilling butter.
• Have plenty of crusty bread on the table. The garlic butter is too good to waste.

Variations

• Add a pinch of Pernod or pastis to the butter instead of brandy for an anise note.
• Swap the shells for a mushroom cap: stuff the compound butter and snail into large button mushrooms.
• Use white wine instead of brandy for a lighter, more delicate butter.