Snail Butter
Mmmm delicious snail butter!
Alas (or thankfully), there's no snail in it. Really, it's just an herb butter that's good for everything from using as the fat to stir fry with to melting it on a steak to tossing with pasta to just spreading it on big chunks of bread. Oh, and of course, eating with snails.
I was inspired to make it from this Melissa Clark article, though she specifically uses it for grilled squid. Since the proportion of the herb mixture is intended to be used partly to garnish the squid, the recipe for plain snail butter calls for twice the amount of butter (or half the amount of herb mixture). But why would you only want half?
It's totally simple to make. As Melissa says: "...mash everything up in the food processor and then slather it over anything that stands still."
Snail Butter (as adapted from Melissa Clark)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup packed parsley leaves
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons pastis (an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France), like Pernod
2 teaspoons chopped shallots
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
Method
1. In a food processor, combine parsley, garlic, pastis, shallots, salt and pepper. Pulse until minced.
2. Add softened butter to food processor and pulse until mixture is smooth and tinged with green.
Store in an airtight container and use liberally when the mood takes you! If not using for cooking, it's best if you let the butter soften before using, for maximum spreadability.
Alas (or thankfully), there's no snail in it. Really, it's just an herb butter that's good for everything from using as the fat to stir fry with to melting it on a steak to tossing with pasta to just spreading it on big chunks of bread. Oh, and of course, eating with snails.
I was inspired to make it from this Melissa Clark article, though she specifically uses it for grilled squid. Since the proportion of the herb mixture is intended to be used partly to garnish the squid, the recipe for plain snail butter calls for twice the amount of butter (or half the amount of herb mixture). But why would you only want half?
It's totally simple to make. As Melissa says: "...mash everything up in the food processor and then slather it over anything that stands still."
Snail Butter (as adapted from Melissa Clark)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup packed parsley leaves
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons pastis (an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France), like Pernod
2 teaspoons chopped shallots
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
Method
1. In a food processor, combine parsley, garlic, pastis, shallots, salt and pepper. Pulse until minced.
2. Add softened butter to food processor and pulse until mixture is smooth and tinged with green.
Store in an airtight container and use liberally when the mood takes you! If not using for cooking, it's best if you let the butter soften before using, for maximum spreadability.