Home-made terrine of foie gras

Home-made terrine of foie gras [final photo]

This recipe needs some care: a bit of skill is needed to remove the veins of the liver, you must check the oven carefully temperature during cooking, and keep to the correct weight of salt and pepper depending on the weight of liver (see this small calculator for help with this).

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For 1 foie gras, you will need:

1 raw foie gras (weight about 600 g)
7 g fine (or table) salt
2 g pepper
2 pinches mixed spice (quatre-épices)
½ teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon Port
1 tablespoon Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac)
1 tablespoon Sherry

Nutritional information:

Whole recipe

Calories

2892

116%

Proteins

72g

10%

Carbohydrates

24g

Fats

272g

73%

Per 100 g

Calories

441

18%

Proteins

11g

Carbohydrates

<1%

Fats

41g

11%

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2500 k-calories by day for a man (change to a woman).

Times:

Preparation : 40 min.
Resting : 3 days 12 hours
Cooking : 25 min.
Start to finish : 3 days 13 hours 5 min.

How much?

For 1 foie gras : 9.34 €

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Note : These prices are only approximate. Read more...

Step by step recipe:

Removing veins: Take the liver out of the fridge at least two hours before using it, so it will be at room temperature and soft. Rinse it thoroughly under warm water to eliminate any remaining traces of blood.
The liver consists of two lobes: a large and a small one. Spread the two lobes, you now must try to remove all the veins.
Pull the veins carefully towards you, to remove them without breaking or cutting, following them by passing your fingers underneath, until you reach the end of the liver. This is the first tricky stage of the recipe, it's a bit difficult, especially for a beginner. Your hands become very greasy, and you will see that's not easy to remove a vein without breaking it. But do not despair, for a non-professional it's quite impossible to remove all the veins, but do the best you can...
To work in more comfort, you can use surgical gloves. The tool I advise you to use is a peeling knife.
Another tip: put a bowl or a large cup in front of you, allowing you to deposit the sticky veins easily by scraping the knife blade as you work.
Once done, don't worry about the forlorn look of the liver, it's past caring!
If you find a lot of traces of blood inside the liver, you can remove them by soaking it in milk for one hour, covered with plastic film. Then carefully drain the clean liver and go on to the next stage. Tip: use this milk to make a tasty gratin for example.
Other way to remove traces of blood quickly: put liver in salted (one tablespoon) cold water with some ice cubes for half an hour. Then rinse liver under running cold water and dry on kitchen paper.
Put the liver in a fairly wide (gratin) dish.
Seasoning: This is the second tricky stage of the recipe. Mix the seasonings (salt, pepper, sugar and spice) using the weight of salt according to liver weight (see this small calculator to help you). The best way to get those small weight is to use a precision weight scales. If you can't get one, please note that 1 teaspoon = 5g salt (about) or 2.5g powdered pepper (about). Spread half this mix on the liver. It seems to be a lot, but don't worry. Then add the alcohol.
Turn over the liver and add the remaining seasoning mix. You can now put the liver in the fridge, covered with plastic film, overnight. It's not absolutely necessary, but the flavour of the liver (when cooked) will be fuller. Be sure to remove the liver from the fridge at least 2 hours before use, to let it soften again.
Put the liver in the terrine dish, trying to reassemble all the parts. There's no problem if the liver is a bit too big for the dish because it will reduce during cooking. For aesthetic reasons, try to finish with the biggest piece of liver placed on top.
Take any remaining seasonings and alcohol and pour them over the liver. Clean around the top of the dish carefully to remove all small scraps of liver which might burn during cooking.
If you choose the third way of cooking (see below), the method is slightly different: Line the dish with a layer of "cooking" film , arrange the pieces of liver on it and proceed as usual for seasonings and alcohols. Finally, cover the dish with a second layer of "cooking" film, and refrigerate overnight.
Cooking: This is the third tricky stage, the most important because the taste and the quality of the liver depend on the cooking. You can do it in three different ways. 1^st method(aka "Françoise's way"): Preheat your oven to 150°C ou 302°F, put in a baking dish to contain the terrine. Add hot water to about halfway up the sides. Put a thermometer in the water, and when it reaches 70°C put in the terrine. The liver must cook for around 50 minutes at about 70°C (158°F) uncovered. Watch the cooking carefully : If the temperature is too high add a glass of cold water to the dish. If the temperature is too low, add some boiling water (its helps to have a pan or kettle of boiling water handy).
2^nd method (aka "by thermometer"): Preheat the oven to 100°C or 212°F, put in a large baking dish with the terrine dish in it. Add as much boiling water to the outer dish as you can. Push a thermometer into the middle of he liver (using an electronic thermometer is very convenient). The liver must cook until its internal temperature reaches 65°C or 149°F, if you like it a bit pink, or 70°C or 158°F otherwise. This method is quite simple, and not linked to the weight of the liver or the performance of your oven. For those 2 methods, you can keep lid on top or not, it really does not matter.
3^rd method (aka "Eric Léautey's way") : Attention, for this method the liver must be at room temperature before going into the oven, think to leave it out for at least two hours. Preheat your oven to 194°F (090°C) and cook the dish of liver pieces for 25 minutes. This new method given by the great chef Eric Léautey is the best of all in terms of efficency, speed and simplicity because the liver pieces are cooked spread out, not in the terrine dish, and reach the right temperature faster.
After cooking: Remove the dish from the oven as soon as the right temperature is reached. Take the terrine dish out of the water and let it cool uncovered. Don't be alarmed by the volume of fat, it's normal though a bit frustrating. This volume reduction of liver is well known as a quality criteria: good livers reduce less than others. As the liver cools, the fat becomes opaque and yellow even though not yet set.
Now you must remove all the cooking juices, to keep only the liver and a bit of fat to protect it. To do this, pour the fat in a bowl, as soon as the brown juices appear, stop pouring into this bowl as this is the clean fat. Take another bowl and finish pouring the end of the fat mixed with the juices. This "dirty fat" can be discarded. Dissolve the clean fat, a few seconds in the microwave or in a pan over a low heat. Pour just enough liquid clean fat into the terrine to protect the liver by covering it with a thin layer.
If you have choosen the third method, it's simpler: remove the top layer of plastic film and you will see that liver pieces are cooked in a fairly small amount of fat and juice. Don't be scared by the so spongy foie gras look, yes it is cooked ! but you will see that only after a few days in a cool place.
With a fork, or a skimmer or araignée (spider), remove the liver pieces one at a time and put in your terrine dish. By doing this you will automatically remove the excess fat and juices, and your terrine will come together easily as the liver pieces are very soft. To finish, you can cover the top of the terrine with a thin layer of fat taken from the cooking dish.
Then cover with the lid and refrigerate for at least 3 days (if you can resist temptation), to allow the liver to fully develop its flavour and aroma. It could be keep in the refrigerator for about one week (don't hesitate to protect it with plastic film), after that it probably should be freeze.

Remarks:

If you want a more natural taste, you can reduce to just one tablespoon (or omit) the alcohol in this recipe.

For bread which goes best with foie gras, resist the temptation to use sliced industrial bread, or even worse brioche or other rich sweet bread (too soft, too sweet, too similar to foie gras). Better to use a more rustic bread like a classic "pain de campagne". For me, the best of all will always be a leaven-raised bread.

Recipes which use it: 2

Sarladaise potatoes - Scallops with crunchy vegetables and wine sabayon

And to drink?

One can discuss at length what wine to drink with foie gras, but at the risk of being controversial, I don't think a Sauternes goes at all well. Such a sweet wine is already too close to the sweet richness of the foie gras.

I suggest you try a dry white wine instead, which can bring out the flavour of the foie gras by contrasting with it. Why not a "Cotes du Jura blanc" (those from the domaine Rolet in Arbois (France) are excellent).

If you really prefer a sweet wine, try something less sweet than a Sauternes, like "Coteaux du Layon, Croix blanche" a wine from the Loire valley, (those made by Sylvie Termeau at Rochefort/Loire are perfect).

Source:

From Françoise who taught me everything.

Last modified on: March 27^th 2010

Site ratings

For 1 foie gras, you will need:

Nutritional information:

Times:

How much?

Step by step recipe:

Removing veins:

Seasoning:

Cooking:

After cooking:

Remarks:

Recipes which use it: 2

And to drink?

Source:

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