I like to start with the fresh product if I'm going to use foie gras at all. Fortunately, it's actually obtainable in the United States these days because of two producers, one on each coast - Sonoma Foie Gras in Sonoma, California, and Hudson Valley in New York.
A whole liver will weigh from a pound to two pounds and ranges in price from under twenty dollars a pound to over thirty on the wholesale market, depending on quality. The livers are graded "A", "B" and "C". I find that "B" is excellent for most uses, and contains less fat than the "A", giving it more structure for sauteeing or grilling.
When I recieve my foie gras, it is soaked in milk or water and allowed to reach room temperature for easier handling so that veins and connective tissue can be removed. Working with chilled foie gras can cause the liver to break. At room temperature, it is malleable and much easier to work with.
I use a Japanese sushi roll maker (a bamboo mat) to roll cylinders of room temperature foie gras, then chill it to shape. I wrap the cylinders in Saran wrap very tightly, and tie the ends off like sausages. The wrapped foie gras "sausages" are pricked lightly and poached in a mixture of chicken broth and white wine. Sauternes is ideal, but I cheat and use any inexpensive but decent Semillon or Chardonnay; why waste the good stuff on boiling, especially when so little of the liquid touches the foie gras? The foie gras is poached until barely firm, maybe 8 minutes, then allowed to stand.
The broth (with the inevitable bit of foie gras fat) is then reduced to demiglace so that nothing is wasted. The wrapped "sausages" are pierced and the yellow fat drained into a container which goes in the freezer - foie gras "butter" is awesome to pair with black truffles, and lasts a year in the freezer if tightly covered with no exposure to air. The liver should be barely pink inside when sliced, and grey on the outside.
Poached foie gras will keep for months in the fridge if you crock it in brandy and seal the top with goose fat so there is no exposure to air. That's an ancient French technique that I've successfully duplicated many times, so I can buy a whole liver for my own household use and savor it over many weeks. The brandy-crocked product is amazingly good.
You can also preserve or infuse foie gras with flavored honey, and the liver will absorb a surprising amount of the honey if allowed to marinate in it. Use a delicately flavored honey, such as lavender or blackberry, so as not to overpower the foie gras. Chestnut honey, with its characteristically bitter tang, is an excellent choice to season foie gras with for use in an appetizer.
Cut a mango into 1/5" thick slices. Fan out three long pieces of foie gras atop the mango base. Bind it attractively with strips of duck prosciutto. Variations on this recipe include using white truffle oil, or chestnut honey, or rare roasted duck breast.
Poach the foie gras according to the recipe given above in Basic Information. Cool it immediately by shocking in ice water, pat dry, and marinate the liver in good Sauternes wine with a tablespoon of Cognac or brandy at least 24 hours in the refrigerator. Cut the foie gras into thick rounds, and place between sheets of freshly baked puff pastry with generous slices of brandy-sprinkled Comice or D'Anjou pears, cracked black pepper and crumbled Roquefort cheese. Serve with a light frisee salad dressed with verjus, wine-soaked golden raisins and crushed hazelnuts.
Infuse a pale, neutral flavored honey (though lavender honey is ideal if you can find it) with edible lavender blossoms. Make sure the blossoms you buy are food grade; the ones sold as potpourri are not edible. Add the blossoms to warmed honey and allow to stand in a cool, dark place for at least a week. Drizzle lavender honey over briefly seared medallions of foie gras. You can also marinate a poached foie gras in lavender honey spread thickly over the lobes of the liver.
Simmer black truffle dice for about 15 minutes in just enough butter, cream and a touch of Sauternes or Semillon to cover the truffles. Slice and sautee crisp green apples very briefly in this sauce, about a minute - there should be a bit of crispness left in the apples. You want the end result to have very little liquid. Serve on mixed spring greens (I like frisee and baby oak) with rounds of poached foie gras and crisp crostini.
A remarkable property of celeriac is that it seems to partner foie gras and extend it considerably in a recipe - a steamed pudding made with half foie gras and half celeriac tastes as if the foie gras portion was much more generous than it actually was. Peel, cube and boil the tender heart of a celeriac root until it is completely soft. Pass it through a fine strainer to remove all traces of stringy fiber. Strain an equal amount of raw foie gras, and blend the two thoroughly. Add a teaspoon or two of brandy, and diced black truffles if your budget allows. Steam in the oven in individual crockpots placed in a bain-marie; cooking time will depend on the number and size of the pots, but I suggest 325 degrees for something like an hour.
Foie Gras Links
The
Practical Guide to
Foie Gras by Edouard Artzner
La Comtesse du Barry, purveyors of foie gras from France
D'Artagnan French food to go, in wholesale or retail quantity.
The French Foie Gras at connaisseurs.com.
Foie Gras at the American Hotel: Petrossian Paris Foie Gras
Ingredients are not sacred. The art of cuisine is sacred. It is at that altar I worship, and I shall go to sacrifice the fat geese and tender cattle to serve its ends. The holy icons of the chef's faith—fragrant truffles, rich foie gras, well-marbled meats and other luxurious ingredients - these are not God. Their synthesis and their miraculous transformation into a sum greater than its parts is creation, and this is what I find most worthy of reverence.
Tanith Tyrr, 1997
