Foie gras garnished with sweet quince and hibiscus sauce
Many housewives are sure that such a delicacy as foie gras (goose or duck liver) cannot be cooked at home. Today I will give you a delicious Christmas appetizer, which was invented by the French chef Nicolas Le Beck from Lyon, who recently visited Dubai with a master class as part of the Raffles Wine, Food & Arts culinary festival held at the Raffles Hotel.
Ingredients for 8-10 servings:
- Chilled foie gras - 500-600 g
- Fresh quince - 3-4 pieces
- Sugar - 3 cups
- Dry hibiscus flowers (hibiscus) - 50 g
- White vinegar - 300 ml
- One green apple and fresh soybean sprouts - for decoration
- Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking method:
- Prepare quince for a side dish. Cut the fruits of quince across thick circles (2-2.5 cm in thickness), peel and gently cut the seeds to make rings. In a wide pan, boil sugar syrup from 5 cups of water, 1.5 cups of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Put the quince rings in the hot syrup (the syrup should completely cover the fruits by 0.5 cm), and cook them over low heat for 15 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat, and cover the quince with cling film to prevent oxidation, without removing the fruits from the syrup before serving.
- Cut fresh, well-chilled foie gras (the liver should be firm, hard on the outside and very soft inside) cut into 3 cm thick slices and 5-6 cm in diameter. Put the prepared fau gras on a hot dry frying pan and fry on both sides for one two minutes. Then quickly remove the liver from the pan and put it on a plate with a paper towel to absorb excess fat. Leave on a towel for five minutes so that the temperature from the surface of the liver evenly warms it inside.
- Make hibiscus sauce. In a stewpan over low heat, boil 300 ml of vinegar and 300 g of sugar to a density, add dry hibiscus flowers (hibiscus) to the resulting syrup. As soon as the sauce becomes bright raspberry color, strain it through a sieve.
- Re-heat the pan and re-fry on it the foie gras removed from the paper towel, very quickly and on both sides. Remove the liver again on a paper towel.
- To serve - put the quince ring on a plate, put a slice of foie gras on top, pour warm hibiscus sauce and garnish with a thin transparent circle of green apple and fresh green sprouts. Serve immediately. Better with white wine.
Duck with apples and prunes
I once saw this wonderful recipe in all respects in the Smack program with the participation of Alexander Rosenbaum, and I was pleasantly surprised that a great poet, musician and singer is also an excellent culinary specialist. In this issue you can not only read the interview with the artist made during his concert in Dubai, but also try the signature duck, if you are not too lazy to cook it. The only departure from the author’s recipe is the apple variety. Alexander Yakovlevich recommended Antonovka, but since it is not found in the Emirates, take the green sour Granny Smith.
Ingredients for 4-6 servings:
- Duck - 2.5 - 3 kg
- Green apples - 5 - 6 pieces
- Prunes (preferably pitted) - 200 g
- Sour cream - 200 g
- Walnuts - 100 g
- Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Cooking method:
- Prepared duck carcass must be salt and pepper outside and inside. Then stuff the bird with apples, chopped into quarters, and prunes. Thickly coat on top with sour cream sauce.
- For the sauce - mix sour cream with crushed garlic and chopped walnuts.
- Lay the duck on the baking sheet with the belly up, cover on all sides with the remaining pieces of apples and prunes. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 35-45 minutes, pouring with melted fat. After 45 minutes, flip the bird abdomen down and fry until tender. In total, a duck weighing 2.5 kg needs to be spent 2 - 2.5 hours in the oven. Sour cream sauce will make a golden golden crust appear.
- When serving, put the bird on a dish, spread around the baked apples and prunes, fresh cranberries, young boiled potatoes. For piquancy, you can offer cranberry sauce.
Cake pigeon's milk"
In conclusion, "bird theme" I propose a recipe for one of the most beloved cakes since childhood. It turns out that even such a culinary masterpiece can be prepared in your own kitchen.
Ingredients:
- 14 eggs
- 3.5 cups sugar
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp. flour spoon
- 40 g of gelatin
- 1 cup + 3 tbsp. tablespoons of milk
- 350 g oil drain
- vanillin
- 5 tbsp. spoons of cocoa
Cooking method:
Biscuit
Take 4 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour. Beat eggs with sugar, add flour, mix everything, bake in a form over medium heat (180 ° C) for 30 minutes.
Cream
Take 40 g of gelatin, 1 cup of milk, 300 g of butter, 10 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour, vanilla on the tip of a knife. Dilute gelatin in 150 g of warm water, leave for 30 minutes. Grind the yolks with one glass of sugar, pour milk, stir, add flour, stir, bring to a boil in a water bath. Cool the mass and add butter, vanillin to it. Whip everything. Heat gelatin, strain. Beat the whites with one glass of sugar. Quickly pour gelatin into whipped proteins, mixing thoroughly. Combine oil cream and protein mass.
Chocolate glaze
Take 5 tablespoons of cocoa, 4 tablespoons of milk, 50 g of butter, 0.5 cups of sugar. Mix everything, bring to a boil, cool. Or 150-200 g of dark chocolate + 50 g of butter melt in a water bath.
Assembly
Cut the biscuit into two halves, put one in a detachable form, pour cream, cover with a second cake, leave to harden in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours. Remove from the mold, glaze the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate again.
Merry Christmas to all!
Good New Year!
And, as always, bon appetit!
