APDC's foie gras burgers

[carswell]

An e-friend who is planning to to make foie gras hamburgers this weekend has asked for tips. I can provide some about grilling foie gras but not about building a burger with it. My friend's thinking arugula and red onion as a garnish; she may also include a beef patty. I've never tried Martin Picard's foie gras burger at Au Pied de Cochon and wonder what he does. Anybody know?

[Gifted Gourmet]

No, but there is this:

Michael Ginor penned "Foie Gras: A Passion." The book retraces the history of the silky food and features recipes from Foie Gras Hamburger to Foie Gras with Japanese Seaweed Aspic.

[carswell]

No, but there is this:

Michael Ginor penned "Foie Gras: A Passion." The book retraces the history of the silky food and features recipes from Foie Gras Hamburger to Foie Gras with Japanese Seaweed Aspic.

Thanks but I'm afraid Ginor's burger is a conceit; the "buns" are poached white peach halves, the "ketchup" is raspberry sauce, the "mustard" is Sauternes syrup. Here's the recipe (scroll to the end of the article).

Boulud's famous burger with foie gras, short ribs and truffles is closer to what my friend has in mind but too high falutin. That's where APDC comes in. Picard's foie gras fantasies (e.g. foie gras poutine, foie gras maki, foie gras lobster roll) usually stay close to their roots, and I bet it's that way with his foie gras burger, too.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I've never had a foie gras burger, but here's how I would guess at doing it:

Pre-sear the medallions of foie gras then wrap the raw beef(?) around them. My thought for doing this is that if one wrapped simple ground meat around raw foie gras and then cooked it, the tendancy would be for the foie gras to melt and just make for VERY greasy burgers. By pre-searing them, you are making a *crust* in a sense that should preserve the medallion in the middle. The burgers will still have to be cooked pretty rare however, to assure that the foie gras does not start cooking again and melting.

As far as condiments are concerned, I would suggest making a very flavorful, sweet red onion confit as opposed to raw red onions. Adding some balsamic vinegar to plain ketchup would snazz it up and gourmet mustard is not too hard to find.

Does that help any?

[carswell]

Pre-sear the medallions of foie gras then wrap the raw beef(?) around them. My thought for doing this is that if one wrapped simple ground meat around raw foie gras and then cooked it, the tendancy would be for the foie gras to melt and just make for VERY greasy burgers. By pre-searing them, you are making a *crust* in a sense that should preserve the medallion in the middle. The burgers will still have to be cooked pretty rare however, to assure that the foie gras does not start cooking again and melting.

I'd worry about the foie dissolving, especially since many people would refuse a rare burger, even if the meat were hand-chopped at the last minute, out of personal preference if not fear of salmonella. I think I'd go with searing the foie patties on the grill or stovetop and then placing them on top of the beef patties like cheese. The red onion confit and balsamic-spiked ketchup are great ideas; I'll credit you in my reply to my friend.

[wattacetti]

Andreas Viestad presented a recipe for a foie gras cheeseburger in his cookbook "Kitchen of Light" (it's also demo'd in the accompanying cooking show). He sears the foie gras first, then buries the pieces into a mince composed of pork, venison and grouse.

You can take a look at the recipe here

[carswell]

Andreas Viestad presented a recipe for a foie gras cheeseburger in his cookbook "Kitchen of Light" (it's also demo'd in the accompanying cooking show). He sears the foie gras first, then buries the pieces into a mince composed of pork, venison and grouse.

You can take a look at the recipe here

Thanks, wattacetti. This is similar to the technique suggested by Ms. Tillie. As I mentioned to her, I'd be afraid of ending up with a patty filled with molten foie gras, but maybe that's the point (if we can have molten chocolate cake, why not molten beefcake, eh?). Will have to give it a shot sometime. Fortunately, a few places are selling foie by the scallop these days, so it won't be necessary to buy a whole liver to make a burger or two. I know my e-friend was planning to sear the scallops and offer them as a garnish along with or instead of cheese, but I haven't heard how it turned out.

[eSkillet.com]

I think the best way would be to sear both the burger and the foie gras. Stack it with whatever vegetables you want to use and serve it on a good sourdough bun.