Well, what a productive run to the dump we had today! lol!We don't have trash pickup in Hawai'i so you have to actually take care of your own trash situation. That's actually fine with me as it helps you know exactly how much trash your household produces.
The State has recycling centers at our dump facility that actually tracks just how much product, by weight, it keeps out of the landfills which it resells to pay for the facility. Brilliant.
The bargains you can find here are quite something. If you could see the cool and awesome stuff that turns up here, you'd be just as impressed as we are. Who cares if we are totally garage-saling it, da kine style? It's definitely a local kinda vibe but with cool as shit vintage fare showing up daily. The Nordstrom's of dumpster diving. It's super fun and one of our favorite past times when running errands and doing household chores.
We've picked up crystal vases, local artwork, vintage electronics, gorgeous wood carvings and just about any kind of cool household item you might possibly need. For pennies.
Today our haul was two huge odd cut slabs of granite from a kitchen install. Beautiful. Stuff I probably wouldn't afford for our cabana if I had to pay retail. But today at $7 for the lot, that's just where it will end up. Thanks, dump.
I didn't see much else today except a gorgeous vintage Murano glass vase (yes, mine!) and oddest of oddities, 2 French escargot baking dishes!! Score! I showed them to Tsunami and all he said was, "So I guess we need to swing by the grocery store?" Um, hell yea.
$17 later, we were on our way. To the grocery store. :)
What I bought:
2 cans of snails
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 shallot
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 stick of butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or whatever herb you have, right?)
salt, pepper to taste
hot sauce and/or lemon, optional, of course but that's how we do it
Super easy prep:
- Mince very finely parsley, garlic, shallots and thyme together to create a mirepoix of sorts.
- Add 1/4 tbsp of butter to each indent of your escargot pan, if using an escargot or aebleskiver pan. Basically, a pat of butter quartered is what I start with in each spot.
- Add a snail or two.
- Top with a 1/2 tsp of your mirepoix mixture and add another dab of butter if you think it needs it.
- Cut small circles to fit your indents, if doing the vol-au-vent version. Otherwise, just bake as is with your butter/herb concoction. An optional twist is to make them au gratin style, which is just sprinkled with cheese.
Preheat oven to 450 F.
These are cooked to order just before serving, so once ready, pop in the oven for 15-16 minutes or until butter is bubbly and/or the puff pastry is puffy and lightly browned.
You can serve with a crusty bread or French baguette, which yes, I often make as well. But tonight, because Tsunami is a pot-pie-aholic and because we had it this way at a pretty famous Chicago restaurant some years ago, we are having it with puff pastry; Escargot Vol-Au-Vent.
Honestly, though, we always serve it with extra French bread because there is always some delicious butter sauce left that needs to be addressed. lol! Almost the best part of this whole dish so don't leave this goodness behind!
Inspired by recycling. But with this awesome dish, no need for leftovers because there won't be any. Who cares? This dish is almost obscene in that it is nothing but fresh herbs, butter and canned snails. Fancy fast food. Who can complain about that?
Don't have an escargot pan? Maybe use a mini muffin pan? Or shot glasses! I've even seen this recipe done family style in a shallow au gratin pan. Whatever suits the bill for the amount of guests you will be serving. Even if it's just your little ol' self... Fancy can totally be done solo.
* Note about canned snails: drain and wash well with cold water and keep refrigerated, covered until ready to use. Use within 5 days. I use sooner than that, generally speaking. My cans typically yield 18 good sized snails so that goes pretty far! One pan for me, one pan for you, one pan for whoever makes it there first!
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