The Cooking Ninja

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

How was everybody's Christmas and New Year? Hope all of you had a wonderful time!

Little One had a great time with lots of gifts from Santa... a rocking horse and a toy bus before Christmas, then on Christmas day, a tricycle, lots of books, and more toys. Santa was very generous with her ... he knows she has been a very good girl through out the whole year (obviously he was not watching during her lunch and dinner )

This Christmas, we had a big roasted turkey with stuffings and chestnuts - which as usual took a few days to finish . But some things remain a tradition in the family like having a home-made foie gras on the table. Every year, a few days before Christmas, we will be out hunting for the perfect looking raw foie gras in supermarkets, and then try to cook this delicate dish to perfection.

Foie gras, a luxury (and somewhat controversial) dish, is one of the most popular delicacies in French cuisine and traditionally consumed as a cold entrée, usually eaten with crusty or toasted bread. Foie Gras can be from duck or goose liver, however duck liver is easier to find in supermarkets and cheaper than goose liver. It's also easier to bake. Finding a proper raw liver outside of France might be a challenge, but it helps a bit that frozen ones also exists and can give great results.

Foie Gras en Terrine

Michèle's Recipe

Preparing a foie gras isn't complicated at all, in fact it's a very simple recipe. The real difficulty is in baking : too much or too hot and the liver will melt and you'll just get a big chunk of fat. But you want it to be cooked enough as well...

Ingredients

• 1 fresh duck liver (approx. 500 g)
• Marinate
  • a small glass of Port wine or Porto
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • a bit more than a sprinkle of pepper

• a terrine

Directions

1. Leave the foie gras in the room till it reaches room temperature (the foie gras feels supple when touched).
2. Delicately remove the nerve veins.
3. Make sure to lay the foie gras flat in a baking dish.
4. Sprinkle it with paprika, salt and pepper. Then pour the Port wine all over the foie gras.
5. Cover it and put it on the lower section of the refrigerator for 1 night. If possible, spoon the marinate over the foie gras once or twice.
6. Preheat the oven at 140°C.
7. Take the foie gras out of the baking dish and put it a rectangular terrine (about the size of the foie gras). Press lightly on the foie gras a little bit all around so that it is fits nicely and compact into the dish.
8. Pour a little bit of the marinate on the foie gras to moisten it and throw away the rest.
9. Cover it with aluminum foil and press it well all around.
10. Put the terrine in a bain-marie with very hot water (but not boiling hot). Bake the whole thing for about 35 minutes.
11. After 35 minutes, take the terrine out of the bain-marie. Put some weight (like stones or something heavy) on top of the aluminum foil to let the liquid fat solidify cleanly.
12. Once the terrine of foie gras has cooled down, remove the aluminum foil and leave the covered foie gras in the refrigerator for 2 days (this is to allow the taste and flavour of the foie gras to heighten) before savouring it.

Conclusion

It's simply delicious as it should! If you get it right, it must be smooth and firm like cold butter, and have a very slight bitterness. The preparation might gross you out a bit, but rest assured that the result is mouthwatering

Note

It's sometimes served with a sort of cold sweet onion confit, which goes very well with it.

As for wine, it goes well with sweet white wine (vin moelleux) like sauternes or champagne.