Escargot with crispy frogs’ legs
Tom Noest cooks snails (escargot) in a punchy garlic and parsley compound butter and serves them with deep-fried crispy frogs' legs in his simple, quintessentially French starter.
Ingredients
Escargot
- 16 snails , tinned or vacuum packed in their shells
- 125g of butter , softened
- 10g of shallots , roughly chopped
- 8g of garlic , roughly chopped
- 10g of parsley leaves
- 1 dash of white wine
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Frogs' legs
- 6 frog legs, (3 pairs)
- 8 tbsp of Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg , beaten with a pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp of plain flour
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Equipment
- Piping bags
- Blender
Method
Begin by making a butter for the snails. Blend the shallots, garlic, parsley and white wine with salt and pepper into a smooth paste – you could also do this in a pestle and mortar. Stir this paste into the softened butter bit by bit to get an even, green butter. Season heavily– it should be ever so slightly too salty so that it seasons the snails. Transfer to a piping bag
- 125g of butter , softened
- 10g of shallots , roughly chopped
- 8g of garlic , roughly chopped
- 10g of parsley leaves
- 1 dash of white wine
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Remove the snails from their shells (if not done so already), then pipe some of the butter into the snail shells. Put the snails back in their shells, then top with a bit more butter. You can freeze any leftover butter
- 16 snails , tinned or vacuum packed in their shells
To prepare the frogs’ legs, snip off the hard ends of the legs, then cut each pair of legs in half, giving you 6 individual legs in total
- 6 frog legs, (3 pairs)
Prepare a breadcrumbing station; a bowl of the flour with a pinch of salt, a bowl of the beaten egg and a bowl of panko breadcrumbs. One by one, dip the legs into the flour, followed by the egg and finally the breadcrumbs, ensuring you get an even coating
- 1 egg , beaten with a pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp of plain flour
- 8 tbsp of Panko breadcrumbs
Preheat an oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5 and heat a deep pan of oil to around 180°C. It is hot enough when you drop a breadcrumb into the oil and it floats and turns golden
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Place the snails in a small baking dish and into the oven for 5 minutes whilst you deep-fry the frogs legs until golden brown, working in batches if needed
To serve, arrange the snails in a circle on each plate with 3 of the frogs legs in the centre, ensuring any of the green butter left in the baking dish is poured over the snails
Go to Comments
Escargot with crispy frogs’ legs
