Easy to Prepare, Incredibly Good- Starting at 1.5 Pounds Grade A (10-15 servings)
Simple Appetizer or First Course: Seared Foie Gras and Blood Orange on Brioche/Toast
This is a very simple recipe for an appetizer or, made with larger toast and foie gras pieces, a first course served with a fine Sauternes (a must). The citrus, foie gras, and Sauternes compliment each other in other-worldly ways. This takes less than 30 minutes to prepare:
Ingredients:
Fresh Foie Gras (purchase above)
Blood Oranges from To-Table (great in other recipes as well)
Mache (or fresh Mint in spring) Leaves
Brown Sugar
Toasted Brioche or other Toast
Dash of Madiera
A good Sauternes Wine
Method:
Slice 1 inch thick pieces of foie gras and season both sides with salt and pepper.
Sear the foie gras in a very hot pan just to brown on both sides. Do not cook through. No More than 15 to 30 seconds on each side. Place on warm oven proof tray or dish.
Peel orange with a knife and slice into 1/2 inch slices placed on broiler pan. Sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on each slice and carmalize either with a blow torch or in the broiler until slightly browned.
Warm the foie gras through in an oven at 325 degrees (this will depend on thickness but 8-12 minutes should suffice).
Cut foie gras to fit toast, place an orange slice or 2 on the foie gras and place mint or mache leaves on top. Top with a dash of Madeira and serve.
It is hard to get to the subject of Foie Gras with Gene Tang as he loves to fly fish so much we forget to talk about much else. Chef tang does believe that Foie Gras is a must for a passionate cook's kitchen and that Hudson Valley has the best flavor and animal husbandry. Hudson Valley is a cage free farm using only the Moulard Duck, a crossbreed between a Muscovy male and a Pekin female - a crossbreed which is disease resistant. Hudson Valley prides itself on the taste which they attribute to the 4 times more attention to the care of ducks than other operations. Foie Gras was once most popular in pates and terrines but now the hot seared cooking is favored. The product here is fresh and never frozen and is the "A" grade from their farm.
Find a brief discussion of foie gras and recipes on our recipes blog.
Gene Tang - 1515 Restaurant