Gewurztraminer-Poached Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Gerwurztraminer Jelly

The Valentine's onslaught begins with this Thomas Keller recipe out of his French Laundry cookbook. Fans of the blog know I don't like to skimp on cooking, ESPECIALLY when world-enforced romantic holidays are concerned.

Now, I must confess, while I didn't exactly skimp on the main ingredient, I did take a short-cut and I think it cost me in the final product.

We had roast goose for Christmas and the butcher we get our stuff through gets it from a farm near here and you get all of the 'stuff' with it (e.g., neck, gizzards, liver, etc.). Well, we thought to ourselves that we should put that goose liver to use someday, and into the freezer it went. Until this weekend.

The recipe was good, but I KNOW it would have been better to use actual foie gras for the dish. Next time, I'll order the thing and do it properly. This was pretty good though. I was happy to just employ the techniques and learn something out of having done it. You'll want to use a good, buttery brioche to add a little sweetness and toasty-ness to cut through this rich dish.

1 ¼ pound grade A moulard duck foie gras
DRY MARINADE
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon pink salt
POACHING LIQUID
1 bottle Gewurztraminer
1 cup water
THE REST
1 ½ sheets gelatin, soaked in cold water
gray salt
black pepper
brioche

DAY 1: MARINATING THE FOIE GRAS: Rinse the foie gras under cold water. Pull apart the lobes and use your fingers to remove excess fat from the bottom of the small lobe (a towel is helpful in gripping the fat).

FOR THE DRY MARINADE: Mix the ingredients together. Sprinkle them in an even layer on all sides of the two lobes. Place the foie gras in a covered container and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2: Wrap the lobes of foie gras in separate pieces of cheesecloth, Tie each end snugly with a piece of twine, but do not squeeze the foie gras; you want to maintain the natural shape of the pieces.

Place the wrapped pieces of foie gras in a pot top side up with the Gewurztraminer and water. The liquid should come about halfway up the foie gras. Place the pot over low to medium heat and slowly heat the liquid until a thermometer reads 140°F. (about 4 minutes). Turn the pieces over and continue to heat until the temperature is 170F. Turn over a final time and heat until the reading is 180F. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the foie gras to remain in the pan for 4 minules. (It is important to cook the foie gras gently to reduce the loss of fat, which would result in a reduced yield.)

Remove the lobes from the pot and place them in a container. Pour the poaching liquid over the foie gras, cover the container, and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 3: Remove the fat that has solidified at the top of the poaching liquid and discard. Remove the foie gras from the liquid and measure out and reserve 1 cup of the liquid for the jelly. Return the foie gras to the liquid remaining in the container and refrigerate.

Squeeze the gelatin sheets to remove the water and place in a metal bowl, Place the bowl over hot water and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk into the reserved poaching liquid, Place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours for the jelly to set.

TO COMPLETE: Remove the foie gras from the cheesecloth and use a hot knife (heated under hot water and dried) to cut it into 1/2" slices, Arrange the slices on a platter. Stir the jelly to break it up, spoon it into a small serving bowl, and serve with gray salt, pepper and the croutons.