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Foie Gras: The Topic


glenn

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I have prepared foie gras a la Thomas Keller and it is very nice. Having the cold poached torchon coupled with a seared foie gras is cool....I like the balance of flavors that comes with it. I did the TK torchon on homemade brioche with sour cherries in port syrup, with a half of a roasted squab with a piece of seared foie gras right on top all on the same plate...

and on searing it...I definitely agree with Markk... a HOT pan works wonders... The way I get a pan hot enough for my liking is: I take a cast iron pan and put it under my broiler for about ten or fifteen minutes and it is ready for a few pieces of foie gras.

Edited by Bicycle Lee (log)

"Make me some mignardises, &*%$@!" -Mateo

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Wow those pics have got me licking my chops.

I wanted to collect the next year's worth of egulleteer's mentions of fois gras and planned to do all of the year 2002 but it was too voluminous. Therefore I add only some of 2002 and will continue the mining process.

Quotes:

-Nobu-ish Japanese serving things like foie gras sushi (lightly sautéed and served atop nigiri rice and Seared Ahi Roll with Thai Chilli Sauce.

-a lovely terrine of oxtail and foie gras

-the foie gras comparison (a dish with goose and duck foie gras presented side by side, served cold)

-a scoop of foie gras mousse

-Foie Gras that was crusted with sweet spices

-Did the Moors eat Foie Gras that tasted like this 500 years ago?

-Pigeon lacquered with Sichuan Peppers was served with a huge slab of grilled Foie Gras

-caviar and a terrine of foie gras

-Wonderful foie gras pate (heaviest, richest I had over the ten day stay)

-duck with foie gras

-Terrific ravioli with foie gras.

-Terrine de foie gras mi-cuit aux noisettes, et cru en sashimi au gingembre marine

-foie gras - served on toast corners with sweet caramelized onions and a nice reduction. the reduction wasn't the typical sweet port or similar that generally goes along with foie gras when the kitchen can't think of anything original. it was more of a meaty earthy reduction. very good.

-the ravioli were the raison d'etre of the dish, translucent golden pasta enclosing a nugget of warm, satiny foie gras. Neverthess, the soup itself was so complex and intense that I eagerly took spoonful after spoonful to tease out the layers of flavor.

-I had a cream of chestnut soup with jellied foie gras

-grouse, duck, gator, foie gras, snake, etc.

-And the homemade foie gras he sold me for Christmas was probably the best I've ever eaten

-Flawless scallops to start, with a crisp breadcrumb crust and a foie gras sauce

-towers of ahi tuna, each wrapped in crisp pancetta, topped with a little foie gras hat, and paddling in a gentle ginger sauce

-Froth and foam. Yes, to an extent the foie gras sauce with my appetizer and the ginger sauce with the tuna were both frothy

-some are done with an immersion blender ( in his foie gras and lobster risotto) and some with a foam canister ( a fromage blanc foam with rhubarb as a pre-dessert)

-Foie Gras, Champs Eleves

-Random thought: the last faggot I ate may well have been an upscale version at City Rhodes, with foie gras in the middle. And Daniel Boulud thinks his hamburger with foie gras is so smart!

-roasted foie gras

-Foie Gras Parfait

-Foie Gras Parfait with Toasted Poilane

-I agree that the allegations of truffle and foie gras do not, um, "state a cause of action" on their own, but it's a #### fine burger

-is there a starred restaurant that doesn't have foie gras somewhere on the menu?

-By 'systemised' I mean matching ingredient for an underlying reason (eg "hot" and "cold" foods in chinese, tart fruit to cut through rich foie gras in french &tc)

-they can swap the quince with the foie gras for the seville oranges operating within the framework and - voila - new dish opens up

-I find it hard to argue that pizza is as good as Foie Gras with Peaches in a Port reduction

-I am in the mood for pizza far more often than I am in the mood for Foie Gras.

-a "nougat" of duck thigh and foie gras with tomato confit and a cream flavored with curry and Sichuan pepper

-My starter of pied a veau et foie gras ravioli

-foie gras terrine with broad bean and asparagus salad

-pot roasted Bresse pigeon with foie gras and truffle ravioli and fondant potato

-smoked pig's trotter advertised foie gras in the stuffing and truffle in the jus.You'd had to have been Sherlock Holmes to detect either

-the pig's trotter stuffed with foie gras

-a sliver of terrine de foie gras

-The alleged truffle and foie gras filling was pretty muted

-ravioles de foie gras with truffle juice and port

-foie gras steamed in cabbage leaves

-stuffed mushrooms topped with foie gras

-one fine glazed puree, one coarse blob (can't think of a better word ) and one fried, with a small pyramid of twisted leeks

-The duck with foie gras

-The terrine of foie gras was over wrought w. a candy-pistachio wafer

-A tomato basil lollipop, tiny bit of foie gras with peach, and a disc of peeky toe crab with spiced green papaya.

-Toasted Foie Gras Brioche with cherry compote and microgreens. This could be simply dismissed as a foie gras sandwich, but what a mistake that would be.

- Duck breast with a Jordan Almond crust with duck thigh confit, sauted foie gras on fingerling potatoes, sauteed chanterelles and braised baby turnips

-Duck foie gras on marinated peach with caramel foam

-Toasted foie gras on brioche with cherry/ouzo marmalade & microgreens

- piece of foie gras with Dolce de leche (sp?) ice cream that was dreamy

-Was that the foie gras en torchon? I had trouble deciding between that and the foie on toasted brioche

-Sounds like the Foie Gras is not to be missed

-squab or pigeon...always delicious along w. the foie gras which is heavenly

-Corn Pancake with Foie Gras.

-Foie gras on ultra-thin toast and-- in between the two-- slivers of strawberries. To some the fruit was overabundant and a little squishy, to the majority the fruit worked well. But whatever the views on the amount of the berry this dish was a success as raw strawberry would not have given enough sweetness

-Foie gras sandwiched with buttery brioche and toasted, accompanied by a ramekin of fig jam that tasted like the Platonic ideal of spiced apple butter, figs be damned.

-a tall, thin cordial glass with a warm apple soup: creamy but not rich, tart, subtly spicy -- and with little cubes of foie gras suspended in it.

-Foie Gras Brulée

-Foie Gras Brulee, Spiced Fig Jam

-Foie Gras Brulée, Pineapple Gelée.In a clever twist on a crème brulée, the foie gras was processed almost to the state of creaminess, topped with a typical crème brulée sugar glaze and served on a toasted brioche saturated with pineapple juice. Several strokes of a bright-yellow, slightly gelatinized pineapple purée with sparks of red chili pepper completed the composition.

-Broiled Squab, Onion Compote, Corn Pancake with Foie Gras ...The corn pancake with foie gras rested on the side of the plate, and a dusting of curry powder was generously applied over all elements of the dish

Happy brainstorming!

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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I wanted to collect the next year's worth of egulleteer's mentions of fois gras and planned to do all of the year 2002 but it was too voluminous.  Therefore I add only some of 2002 and will continue the mining process. 

I move to nominate bleudauvergne for performance above and beyond the normal egulleteer... :smile:

Wonderful to have a bunch of these ideas all in one place. Maybe these will inspire me to transist between a diner of foie gras to a preparer of... part of my motive in starting this thread!

edited to add: also loved your photos on the "What I bought today at the Farmer's Market" thread.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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I have also made the Keller foie gras "au torchon" and thought it was wonderful.

One of the most interesting foie gras dishes I have had recently was at L'Impero in NYC. It was a green apple risotto with foie gras and balsamic reduction. The risotto was light and creamy with a slice of seared foie gras on top and balsamic reduction poured around the rim of the place (so it sunk into the sides of the risotto). The creaminess of the risotto, richness of the foie gras, and sweet and sour notes of the balsamic and green apple were a wonderful combination.

"If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."

~ Fernand Point

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Foie Gratzoh balls in clarified grandma's chicken soup. A passover treat.

You shouldn't eat grouse and woodcock, venison, a quail and dove pate, abalone and oysters, caviar, calf sweetbreads, kidneys, liver, and ducks all during the same week with several cases of wine. That's a health tip.

Jim Harrison from "Off to the Side"

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I have also made the Keller foie gras "au torchon" and thought it was wonderful.

One of the most interesting foie gras dishes I have had recently was at L'Impero in NYC. It was a green apple risotto with foie gras and balsamic reduction. The risotto was light and creamy with a slice of seared foie gras on top and balsamic reduction poured around the rim of the place (so it sunk into the sides of the risotto). The creaminess of the risotto, richness of the foie gras, and sweet and sour notes of the balsamic and green apple were a wonderful combination.

were there pieces of apple in the risotto or was it cooked down with green apple juice?

"Make me some mignardises, &*%$@!" -Mateo

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cut the foie gras relatively thick

get the pan as blistering hot as you want, brown the b*stards to desired level

this will probably leave the foie gras underdone in the centre if you cut it thick enough. all you have to do is pop it in a medium oven for a few minutes until done.

That is the final answer. I have never encountered any problem with the quality of foie gras available here in the US. There are so few producers. The only risk is in over cooking. That is a disaster and dry, over cooked was served to me once in a very famous restaurant in London. Otherwise I think that foie gras is one of the easiest ingredients to cook even at home.

Ruth Friedman

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Three things last night:

1) Stuffed prunes, dates and apricots with foie gras last night, sprinkled a little sea salt on the babies, and put them in a hot oven to roast for 5 minutes. They tasted alright, the dates were definitely the best, followed by apricots and then the prunes but unfortunately I encountered the total fois gras melt down phenomenon. Most of it simply melted away. I froze the ones I hadn't cooked and will attempt to do this from the frozen state. Otherwise I think it might be best to cook the foie gras separately, then pipe it warmed into the roasted fruits just before serving

2) I also mixed up a batch of foie gras butter and piped it into about 1/2 tablespoon dots on parchment, covered that sheet with another piece of parchment, and rolled the lot up before putting it in the freezer. When I want to whip it into sauce, I can just peel off as many dots as I need.

3) Whipped the last dregs of the foie gras butter into the sauce for my rabbit with mustard sauce and the result was -sublime-. However I did do one other thing differently this time, I included the head in the pot with the rest and I don't know if that was really the reason.

-Lucy

Experimentation continues...

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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  • 4 months later...

Hi everyone,

I just arrived from Montreal today. While I was there I smuggled some :smile: goose liver in to the US. I have not had this dish since culinary school and need "HELP PLEASE!"

Thanx,

Harry

I Will Be..................

"The Next Food Network Star!"

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PS: my real worry is cutting away the sinew. I don't want to kill it.

Are you wanting to sear it, or make a pate out of it? If you're making pate, don't worry about butchering it when you remove the vein. The pate should cook low-and-slow and everything in the terrine will just fuse into one mass anyway--so if there are odd bits and pieces, it won't matter. If you're planning to cut slices and sear it, even if it falls apart when you devein it you can probably manage to get several good-sized slices off the lobes for searing. Then you can turn the rest into a pate, or add it to sauces or soups, or what-have-you.

Foie gras. :wub:

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wow...I wish I had some foie right now!

A really easy recipe follows:

Torchon of foie gras

Marinade your deveined lobe in 1/2 oz. Brandy, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper. Place in fridge covered with plastic wrap. The next day take it out and cut it into small cubes or pieces. The cut does not matter as it will cook out of its cut shape. The pieces should be about the size of small dice - 1 cm. square.

In a seperate sautee pan, slowly cook some minced shallots with EVOO and salt. Cook them slowly in enough oil so that they kinda melt down. Towards the end add a touch of brandy and some lemon juice. Cook that out.

Get a large sautee pan SMOKING HOT...Season your cubes a small but at a time with salt and pepper and sear the hell out of them for about 30 seconds to one minute. Do NOT move or shake that pan until you think the bottom is nice and caramelized...not BURNT! When ready, pull of to a paper towel or slotted hotel pan to drain.

When all your foie is ready, mix it with the shallots in a mixing bowl. At this point adjust the seasoning - it should taste DAMN good!

Get some plastic wrap ready and some butchers twine. Basically you are gonna make a sausage out of the foie gras. Take a piece of plastic and pull it out straight. Place a line of foie grasabout 2/3 the width of the wrap. Start ROLLING IT UP! As long as your rolling up skills are cool, you should have no problems.

Tie the ends with butchers twine and use a teasing needle to get the air bubles out...You want to avoid those at all cost!

The fat should squeeze out of all the teasing holes you put into the torchon.

Place in the fridge until set, eat and enjoy, then post your findings!

I hope that helped!

Ciao,

Ore

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The best recipe for a torchon de foie gras I have experienced is in the French Laundry Cookbook. Damn tasty and very easy to do, particularly because you are tasting nothing but foie. The finished texture is slightly lighter than butter and very creamy.

Check it out!

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Sorry about the double post, but I agree with Malawry: don't worry at all about butchering it while you are deveining it. Foie is a lot like silly putty in that you can just mold it right back into its original shape when you are done. Just let it come up to temperature before you pull it apart so that it is more pliable. In addition, try to work quickly when you are doing this (even though it's a time-consuming process) and keep the foie sealed or wrapped up as much as possible, as it oxidizes.

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  • 3 months later...

Whole foie gras being so spectacularly cheaper than processed or the cryovaced slices available at Dean & DeLuca, I had a lobe delivered from D'Artagnan yesterday. Assuming we get through only a portion of it tonight, what's the best way to preserve the rest so that I can be spreading it on toast for, say, Christmas dinner?

Thanks.

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

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Whole foie gras being so spectacularly cheaper than processed or the cryovaced slices available at Dean & DeLuca, I had a lobe delivered from D'Artagnan yesterday.  Assuming we get through only a portion of it tonight, what's the best way to preserve the rest so that I can be spreading it on toast for, say, Christmas dinner?

Thanks.

Freezing will work in the short haul ,say a month or less, otherwise it will become mealy,refrigerated should be eaten within 10 days

Dave s

"Food is our common ground,a universal experience"

James Beard

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I would go with Derrick's suggestion -- the last whole lobe I had saw half of it immediately sliced and seared for instant gratification, but the remainder was terrined with Sauterne and under the layer of fat, will hold up nicely for the next two weeks. That way, you've got your spreadable Christmas foie gras all ready for you!

Would never freeze, even if only for a week or two as there is noticeable affect to its texture.

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I would go with Derrick's suggestion -- the last whole lobe I had saw half of it immediately sliced and seared for instant gratification, but the remainder was terrined with Sauterne and under the layer of fat, will hold up nicely for the next two weeks. That way, you've got your spreadable Christmas foie gras all ready for you!

Would never freeze, even if only for a week or two as there is noticeable affect to its texture.

By terrined: put it in an appropriate container, cook, covered (?) in a water bath at a low temperature and then, when it's cooled a bit, layer on a little duck fat?

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

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One traditional method is confit - you shove the lobe into a air-tight jar - seal it - and place in water. Bring to a boil., and simmer for 45 mins. Let cool. When you open the jar, voila. The liver will be under a seal of fat.

If you wanted, you could marinate the lobe for an hour or so first in some port, brandy, armagnac.

"Gimme a pig's foot, and a bottle of beer..." Bessie Smith

Flickr Food

"111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321" Bruce Frigard 'Winesonoma' - RIP

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ou!

By terrined: put it in an appropriate container, cook, covered (?) in a water bath at a low temperature and then, when it's cooled a bit, layer on a little duck fat?

More or less.

Break into good-sized pieces, season well with salt, white pepper and brandy. Press pieces into mold.

Cook at low temp in a water bath until foie gets to 120. I wouldn't cover because then the moisture will get trapped and the ambient temperature will get up to boiling quickly. Uncovered, moisture will evaporate and cool the foie. When it comes out, weight it down, cool, and chill. This will squoosh up a lot of fat, so have a pan underneath the terrine mold. You can then melt this fat and use it to seal up the top.

Derrick Schneider

My blog: http://www.obsessionwithfood.com

You have to eat. You might as well enjoy it!

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André Daguin's "Terrine de Foie Gras Nature" is pretty much as Derrick describes, with a couple of particulars that may be of interest:

He calls for a whole lobe (not sliced), cleaned, blanched, and patted dry. Don't know how much you have left at this point.

He suggests placing six layers of paper towel beneath the terrine so that water gets wicked up underneath to form a more even bain-marie.

Oven temp is 200°F (93°C), target internal temp is 115°F (45°C), approximate cooking time 40 minutes.

Since you bought the foie from his daughter's company, following his technique seems appropriate. :smile:

Let us know how it turns out!

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I'm with iriee on this one. Once a year we also order a lobe from D'Artagnan and I divvy up the rest, coat it with the duck fat and freeze it. It does really well.

Hmmm, guess I'll be visiting their website today! LOL

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  • 2 years later...

I decided to make my own foie gras terrine this year. I have the fresh whole lobe ordered, and have questions for those of you who have done this before.

-What is the best method to devein the foie gras...and is it necessary to remove every vein?

-What is your favourite recipe, cooking temperature, times?

-How long will the terrine keep for in the fridge?

-What are your favourite accompanyments?

Many thanks in advance

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