Escargot And Chanterelle Pizza

* Exported from MasterCook *

ESCARGOT AND CHANTERELLE PIZZA

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Entrees

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 x French bread dough
-(Craig Claiborne's
-French bread recipe
-works well)
10 oz French snails
-(the smaller the better
-burgundy snails taste
-best to me)
2 oz Chanterelle mushrooms,
-dried
1 1/2 lb Raclette cheese,
-shredded
8 oz Tomato sauce
2 Garlic cloves
2 tb Parsley, fresh
1/2 lb Butter

Make the French Bread dough recipe at least 1 day
beforehand if you can. Roll the dough out into the
shape of a pizza, put it on a pizza pan,and set it
aside. It will keep in the refrigerator overnight.

Prepare the dried mushrooms according to published
recipes (soak, wash, cut, resoak, wash, drain).

If the snails are too large (larger than a garlic
clove), then cut them in pieces. Drain the snails
well. Melt the butter in a baking dish, add the
snails, crushed garlic, about 1/2 salt and ground
black pepper to taste.

Put the bread-dough pan on the top rack of the oven
and the snails on the bottom rack of the oven, and
cook them both for 10 minutes. Take them out.

Spread the tomato sauce in an even layer on the bread,
then sprinkle the Raclette cheese over it. Add the
snails, and then the mushrooms. Sprinkle with fresh
parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 degrees
F. in the top rack for 12 minutes (bottom rack will
burn the crust).

NOTES:

* A pizza-like dish smothered in escargot and
mushrooms -- I was recently at a potluck party where
everyone was asked to bring an interpretation of
"French pizza," what pizza would have tasted like if
it had been invented in Rennes instead of in Naples. I
concocted this dish for the occasion, and it was a
success. If you aren't sure you like escargot, this is
not the dish to experiment with! Yield: 1 large pizza.

* The first time I made this recipe I made it with
morel mushrooms. Their flavor overwhelmed even the
garlic snails. It was good, but it didn't have the
balance I was looking for. Chanterelles seem to fit
better. If you're unable to find or afford
chanterelles, you can substitute Chinese straw
mushrooms, which are available in cans wherever
Chinese groceries are sold. European dried mushrooms
seem always to have rocks and dirt in them; Asian
dried mushrooms never do. I guess the Asians wash
them better before they dry them. It's impossible to
get all of the rocks out.

* Raclette cheese is so much better than any other
kind of cheese in this recipe that it is worth looking
for. If you absolutely cannot get it, use fondue
cheese or a Gruyere.

* Raw butter also tastes more "authentic" in this
recipe. What you really want to use is Normandy
butter, but it's hard to get in North America. Alta
Dena raw butter is available in California; it makes a
noticeable difference in the flavor of the escargot. I
don't know of any other states in which it is legal to
buy raw butter.

: Difficulty: easy to moderate.
: Time: 30 minutes.
: Precision: approximate measurement OK.

: Brian Reid
: DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto CA
: reid@decwrl.DEC.COM -or-
{ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax,sun,pyramid}!decwrl!reid

: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust



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