Primula wrote:You manage to make them look kind of nice - which is a challenge in this case. I've only had escargot once and it was rather like eating little rubber pencil erasers floating in garlic butter, so I can't say I ever bothered to try them again.... hm. I have to say I'm rather with DoK on this one, I'd probably go with the mushrooms.
Odd, I've heard that rubbery comment from multiple people. I can't say I've ever had rubbery escargot. I've tasted some fairly springy chicken and some very chewy beef, but snails and mussels when prepared properly should never be chewy; just like chicken or beef for that matter.
Most of the time I've found chewy meats are the result of overcooking. This is certainly true with chicken. Beef also suffers from how it was raised and slaughtered so even if you don't overcook the beef it can still turn out a bit tough. Free-range chicken and beef are my choice, but I'm not sure how you'd go about finding free-range snails instead of farmed ones. I was surprised to find that there are farms that specialize in free-range snails. Now that would be a rather boring job!
I would imagine overcooked mushrooms would suffer from being chewy if overcooked as well. I've definitely had chewy broccoli and that was from overcooking with entirely too much water.
For chicken and beef, I never use frozen meats and always cook them using the highest temperature possible. I pull them off the fire while there is still a bit of pink on the inside and let them sit for 4-6 minutes wrapped in aluminum foil. The residual heat will finish the cooking process and the meat will be juicy and tender. For grilling, I sear the outside quickly then set the meat well away from the coals to finish cooking slowly.
For mussels, prevention from overcooking is easy. As soon as the shell opens, the mussel is done and should immediately be removed from the steam. This isn't as easy for snails, but the same principle applies. As soon as the butter starts sizzling, the snails are done and should be removed from the heat. For sauteed mushrooms and other vegetables, the key is not to use too much liquid and to do them in small batches if you're doing a lot.
I've prepared this dish using shrimp as well, so perhaps that would do for you both as well. The garlic butter really makes this dish what it is so I would probably still enjoy it if the snails were a bit rubbery. That would depend on the wine, of course, a good escargot with bad wine would be a crime punishable by the Hague, I believe.
