Foie Gras dinner

Foie Gras Crème Brulée
Mâche Salad with Apricots and Roquefort
Seared Foie Gras with Rhubarb Purée
Carrot Fennel Soup
Escalopes of Foie Gras with Grapes

Served with Domaine de Durban Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2002
and Champagne J. Lassale

Herb-Roasted Chicken with
Winter Squash and Beet Greens

Served with Domaine de Durban Côtes du Rhône Village Beaumes de Venise 2000

Juniper Sorbet and Fig Caramels

Served with Corenwyng (Dutch Genever)


About a year ago spikeiowa and I went halves on a whole foie gras from a French warehouse. For various reasons, the dinner with it got put off, so I finally put the foie into the freezer until we could schedule it. Today was the day.

It was fabulous! First, though, I had to learn about foie gras and figure out which recipes really called for the raw, unadulterated foie and which were assuming a partially processed product. Tricky. A recipe for foie gras in pastry with apples left me in doubt, for instance, so I left it out.

The Foie Gras Crème Brulée was fabulous, and economical to boot, only 100 g of foie gras needed. Yet the flavor was marvelous. If you're ever in a position to be butchering a whole foie, set aside 100 g of scraps to wow your next dinner party. M searched the garage and managed to reassemble his propane torch to provide the bruléeing. The champagne was particularly nice with this one. Notes: Add salt & white pepper. Use a water bath. Use 1 tsp white sugar/custard cup.

Seared Foie Gras with Rhubarb Purée was also great. It was my first time searing foie gras, and I actually had the heat too high for the first side. (Odd, since electric has the reputation of not being able to get as hot as gas, but this isn't the first time that I've used high heat and apparently exceeded what the recipe writer expected -- and yes, I have heavy bottom pans). Notes: I only made the rhubarb purée. I used half the sugar called for. I strained off the excess liquid and reduced it down to use as the rhubarb sauce. I seared slices of foie gras instead of whole lobes. The Muscat de Beaumes de Venise went superbly with this and the next foie gras dish.

Escalopes of Foie Gras with Grapes is a very traditional recipe. Yes, I peeled the grapes (while the Crème Brulées baked). I found some red muscat grapes -- wonderful flavor! And peeling did make the grape texture match the velvety foie texture -- lovely. I learned from my first searing experience and seared these at a lower heat and starting with a tbsp of butter. Astonishingly complex flavor considering the only ingredients were butter, foie gras, sweet wine, crème fraiche, and grapes. We wiped our plates clean.

The herb-roasted chicken was a Rosie (organic) with lemon juice and herbes de Provence on a bed of rosemary. Squash was Triamble, an amazingly dense Australian variety that I grew last summer. Beet greens were from my bolting beets, whose greens taste great even if their roots don't.

Juniper sorbet is actually flavored with cinnamon sticks as well as juniper berries and gin. I learned the recipe years ago in a class at Byerly's in Minnesota, and I adore it. Complex and delicious. Spike bought the yummy fig caramels somewhere -- it was a great combination. Dutch gin is different from the standard London (dry) gin. Again, wonderful, complex flavors.

I had a blast planning this menu! I was particularly pleased at coming up with a main course (roast chicken and winter squash) that could happily cook away in the oven unattended while I dealt with the 5 more labor intensive appetizers. It all worked out beautifully.

The Unitarian Jihad marches on

I've been delighted to watch the explosion of support for the Unitarian Jihad. And I'm also delighted by popularity of emceeaich's Unitarian Jihad Name Generator. But even though I'd like to be something more dramatic, I'm afraid my Unitarian Jihad name really ought to be Sister Irritating Water Drip of Extenuating Circumstances.