Baked Snails in Garlic Butter served with a Crispy Bacon Citrus Bitter Leaf Salad

by Michel Lemoine
from Christmas Live

Serve up a splendid French dish, with Michel Lemoine's recipe for tasty garlic butter snails with a deliciously crisp salad

Servings: 4
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
48 snails, drained, plus 48 snail shells
500g butter, softened
12 garlic cloves, finely chopped and crushed
8 tbsp flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp Tabasco
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 shot Pastis
6 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper

For the salad:
1 packet rocket leaves
1 bunch Watercress, torn into sprigs
1 small radicchio, cut in half and finely sliced across
8 slices rindless streaky bacon
4 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
12 orange segments
12 Grapefruit , segments
2 endive, belgian, leaves only

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas 3. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the snails and simmer for about two minutes. Drain, refresh with cold water and drain again.

2. Place the butter, garlic, parsley, Tabasco , Worcestershire sauce, pastis, breadcrumbs, salt and freshly ground pepper and process until smooth.

3. Put a little of the garlic butter into each shell then add one snail per shell. Cover each snail with more garlic butter until the shells are full.

4. Place the snails in an ovenproof serving dish. (The holes must face up so the butter when it is cooked stays in the shell). Bake for around 8-10 minutes in the oven until the butter bubbles.

5. In the meantime, make the salad. Mix together the rocket, watercress and radicchio. Grill the bacon until crispy. Combine together the olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt and freshly ground pepper, then mix through the leaves.

6. Place the Belgian endive on the outside of the plate in a star shape, put the dressed salad leaves in middle of the plate, scatter the orange and grapefruit segments around the leaves and place the crispy bacon on the top.

7. Take the snails out of the oven and serve immediately with the salad.