Escargot and oysters
are quite a pair

Shells! OK, and? Basic coloring. Mushy, oozy, sliminess?

All right, so oysters and snails may never be the fairest mollusks at the ball -- I read someplace that a snail is basically a head with a flattened foot. Charming. That would make an oyster a head. Period.

But there is much to love about these humble critters, tastewise, especially when you throw in a whole lotta garlic and butter.

"My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary at the Prince Court and really enjoyed their seafood buffet," May Kaneshiro wrote. "I would love to get the recipe for their baked oyster. It was so ono!"

Her request was forwarded to the Prince chefs, who countered with "which one?" -- there being many types of oysters in the royal repertoire.

Kaneshiro remembered a lot of garlic. And that led to this recipe, which pairs oysters with escargot -- snails. The escargot are sautéed in butter, garlic, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, then spread over the oysters.

For full restaurant effect, present the oysters shells on a bed of Hawaiian salt.

Baked Oysters with Escargot

18 oysters
1/2 pound butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup chopped garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Salt and white pepper, to taste
1 dozen escargot, diced
1/4 cup Hawaiian salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shuck oysters, removing top shell. Arrange oysters in their bottom shells on a rimmed cookie sheet.

Melt butter in a saucepan; add garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, salt and pepper. Sauté diced escargot in butter. Spoon mixture over each oyster. Bake until golden brown on top. Serve on a bed of Hawaiian salt.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per oyster (not including salt): 110 calories, 11 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrates, no fiber or sugar, 2 g protein.

Next week: It's back to the Prince for oxtail soup.