Recipe of the week: Seared Quebec Foie Gras

This is quite a simple recipe that has minimal preparation time, but demands top quality ingredients and confident cooking technique. Buy Quebec A grade foie gras: one lobe generally will serve four or five people. The sour, crisp leaves of sorrel offer a sharp contrast to the sweetness of the figs. However feel free to improvise the salad greens with whatever your garden has to offer. Ingredients: • 75g foie gras • tablespoon of fig compote • 1 fresh fig • 1 teaspoon of port wine reduction • 1 small slice of brioche bread • pinch of fleur de sel Directions: Port wine reduction: Reduce 400ml of Port wine to approximately 100 ml. Simmer the wine gently; do not let it continuously boil. When the consistency is right, swirl in a spoon of honey, to insure a syrupy consistency.   Remember that the reduction will thicken more when cooled. Spoon some of the reduced wine onto a white plate and pass your finger through. If the reduction stays separate after your finger has passed through, it is ready. Fig compote: Cook coarsely chopped figs for about ten minutes on medium heat with a teaspoon of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice (quarter lemon). Stir once or twice to make sure it doesn’t stick. Turn on oven broiler and put a frying pan on stovetop burner. Score the slice of foie gras (make criss-cross lines with a knife) Season with fine sea salt and pepper, and place scored side down in a hot frying pan. Cook over medium to high heat for about three minutes on each side, or until evenly browned. Under the broiler, toast a slice of brioche bread, just large enough to be a base for the foie gras. This will take less than a minute. Sprinkle some sugar on quartered figs and caramelize under broiler at the same time as the toast. This will also take less than minute. When the toast and caramelized figs are ready, take them out of oven, turn off oven, and place the seared foie gras in the still hot oven. This will insure that the foie gras is warm all the way through. Once you have placed the foie gras in the oven, you have no more than two minutes to assemble the plate. Work fast, that is the secret to restaurant cooking. Spread fig compote on toast, place foie gras on compote and top with caramelized fig. Spoon Port wine reduction around plate, also spoon some of the melted foie gras fat around plate creating two- tone sauce.   Garnish with crisp garden lettuce tossed in light vinaigrette. Add a touch of fleur de sel to the perfectly browned foie gras, and voila… Serves 4/5. Source: La Quintessence, Tremblant-sur-le-Lac Please give this recipe a try and let us know what you think by clicking on the comments link… thank you!