French Food Fight Friday: Escargot!

I don't know what I was thinking when I came home with a dozen snail shells and a huge can of snails. I suppose I was thinking I'd make Escargots Bourguignonne, that delicious bubbling mixture of butter, garlic and parsley that I've loved the few times I've had it in French restaurants, both here and in France. Advice to anyone else leaning towards this inclination: enjoy it in restaurants.

First of all, I didn't need to by a two-pound can containing  5 dozen snails. The shells came with a baker's dozen (who knew?).

Secondly, jamming a large snail (and, trust me, these were large) into a small shell results in...never mind.I mean, there are some things you never want to see in the kitchen.

Thirdly, my wife, Anne, wisely stopped after the 2nd snail ("My, these are rich!") while I ate mine and a couple of hers. And paid for it the next day.

Fourthly, after dinner Anne asked, "How do you clean the shells?" The answer: repeatedly. Boiling them in a water/vinegar mix finally seemed to remove the oil. I certainly wasn't throwing them out - they cost more than the bucket of snails. A mere 3 days later all (most) of the water hiding inside had evaporated.

So, are you ready for the recipe? (Just kidding...really, eat these outside the home.) But now that I have the shells, I'll plan to use them. There must be all kinds of cool things I can stuff them with: Melted cheese and bread; sausage; little shrimp scampis; or, I can leave them in the garden and see if any of my slugs make a home in them! Maybe, what Escargots Bourguignonne needs is fresh, not canned snails! The game is afoot, Watson! (A slimy foot, but a foot).