Even though they’ve been boiled already, once out of the shell, snails still need to be cooked. There are lots variations on what exactly escargot can be poached in, but the goal is essentially to cheat a court bouillon. It is a matter of preference, but I go for a red wine base.

2 cups water
2 cups red wine (Beaujolais)
white parts of one leek, stalk of celery, carrot
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp peppercorns
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 Tbsp salt
7-10 cloves garlic

You’ll thank yourself later for taking the shortcut of not chopping. Instead of going with a full-blown mirepoix of finely chopped vegetables softened in butter, soften chunky carrot and celery sticks and the leek in a little pat of butter, adding the garlic toward the end. Add everything else and bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low.

Once the snail meat has been added to the poaching liquid, it needs to simmer for 60-90 minutes, depending on the size of the snails. On my ranch, the biggest ones get a little smaller than golfballs, which puts their meat at “medium” by French standards of sizing. So I poach them for 75 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the snails to a bowl. Discard the rest of the poaching liquid and vegetables. Rinse the poached snails in cold water to chill them enough for handling.

Snails can be frozen at this point.

And now to cram them into shells with butter and garlic!