Sea snails (caracol chino) with herb butter and fried polenta.

This is my take on escargots. Locally we have a kind of sea snail known as Caracol Chino , but any kind will do.
It's a recipe about textures : the slight chewiness of the sea snails, the crispness of the crust on the polenta and the buttery-ness of the sauce.

Start by making a firm polenta and let it cool down in a baking pan.
Prep the snails and slice them really thin.
Prep the herbs : chop 3 parts of parsley and 1 part of tarragon ; use a sharp knife.
Dice some garlic, don't smash it.

From now on things will happen fast:

Cut polenta in the shape you like, dredge it in flour and deep fried it till a nice,crispy,golden crust forms. Reserve it on kitchen paper

Sautee garlic in plenty of butter and a splash of olive oil.

Add the snails, S&P, and a splash of white wine;  keep cooking till done and tender (around 5 mins. )

Add the herbs, a squeeze of lemon and give it a couple stirs and serve with the fried polenta.

FLY to the table and don'let it cool down!

I serve mine with pickled radish and a bit of tender lettuce...

A lighter red, like a Dolcetto or Barbera, or an important, crisp white would be great with it.
Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Scallops carpaccio with citrus and lentils

A little easy recipe to get us started...


Put a plate in the freezer to chill.
Start with carving nice wedges out of on orange and/or grapefruit; do it above a bowl since you want to save the juices.
In a sauce pan pour the reserved juice and the juice of one orange and one lemon AND the same amount of water..boil the lentils in it till AL DENTE ( wich means "FIRM").
Chill the lentils.
While you wait, reduce over low heat the juice of another orange and a lime to HALF; you'll wisk it with S&P and olive oil to dress the dish.
Sanitize everything:cutting board,knife,hands...
Now you can slice the scallops nice and thin (make sure your knfe is sharp or you'll tear the tender scallops to shreads ; ))
Time to plate up!
Arrange scallops,as you slice them, on the chilled plate;
Sprinkle lentils all over them;
Drizzle with the dressing;
Garnish with a bit of FRESH tarragon.
Buon appetito !