Expensive? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Hard to make? Nope. Terrine
de Foie Gras is just about the easiest of the old time “haut cuisine” dishes to
make. Just duck liver (the foie gras) a little sweet wine, salt and pepper.
Here’s how it works:
The Liver
This is by far the hardest part: cutting out the various
veins and nerves. And it’s not really hard, just messy and time consuming. Neatness
doesn’t really count since we’re going to jam everything into the terrine
anyway.
You end up with a pile of liver and a pile of veins and nerves
The liver goes into a bowl with a little salt and some sweet
wine. I used the traditional Sauternes, but Bocuse and others call for Port. I suspect
that any sweet, deeply flavorful wine will work just as well. Once well mixed
the liver goes into the refrigerator for a couple hours.
Then you just jam everything into a small (that’s a 3 cup)
terrine lined with plastic wrap.
And into a bain-marie in a 200° F oven until the internal
temperature reaches 115° F.
Pour off the tasty duck fat and save it for fried potatoes. Press the contents of the terrine for a couple hours, then
back into the ‘fridge for a couple days.
While the terrine is settling in, make the Sauternes Jelly.
If, like me, you bought half a bottle of Sauternes you’ll have almost exactly
the right amount left over to make Sauternes Jelly.
Two days resting in the 'fridge and there you have it!
