Sunday, May 27, 2012

Recipe: Foie gras icewine ice cream

The idea of foie gras ice cream seems to either freak people out or get them really excited.  An emotional response to food is good, but when entering the realm of "weird", you definitely want to help people along with the acceptance or you'll lose them.  One chef told me once with reference to using molecular gastronomy that you need to base most people in the familiar before you start throwing the crazy stuff at them.  With reference to this ice cream, I would recommend using it as a midway amuse bouche between courses - it might be a bit much to serve as your dessert itself.  I love to garnish it with crushed up crispy fried duck skin and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar.  The key as well is the taste.  Think about your guests and their adventurousness.  A more timid guest will probably need a bit of a sweeter ice cream to help conceptually relate the dish with "ice cream".  Taste the mixture and don't temper the eggs until it tastes good - the double boiler will cook the liver, so you'll be safe.  An option a step further is to sear the foie, adding a delicious caramelization.  As lobes of foie tend to vary in size, be flexible with the recipe - as long as the flavour is there, the ice cream machine will freeze it.  Have fun with it!

You will need:

1                          lobe foie (450 - 500 grams / 1lb more or less)
125ml / 1/2C       icewine
125ml / 1/2C       glucose 
250ml / 1C          cream
250ml / 1C          homo milk
4                          egg yolks
to taste                 kosher salt
as needed            milk to soak the foie

Method:

 - bring the foie up to room temperature (keep it sealed in the package)
 - open the package and gently open the lobe up along the natural seams - remove any obvious veins
 - put the foie in a container and cover with milk
 - press saran wrap down onto the milk and soak in the fridge overnight
 - start water simmering for a double boiler
 - heat the milk, cream and glucose togetherto a simmer
 - temper into the egg yolks
 - return the mix to the heat and cook to 83C / 181.4F
 - chill over an ice bath to stop the cooking, then let sit warm on the counter out of the bath
 - bring the container out, take the foie out of the milk and discard the milk
 - pat the foie dry and roughly cut into pieces
 - pass the pieces through a tamis to remove any veins and transfer the liver to a bowl for the double boiler
 - place the bowl on the double boiler and slowly stir as the foie begins to melt
 - once the foie is more or less liquified, start stirring with a whisk - you want the foie to cook, but don't burn it
 - whisk in the icewine
 - whisk in the cream mixture
 - season with salt and check the taste - if you want it sweeter, now is the time
 - strain the mix through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl in an ice bath and keep whisking it gently as it cools to keep it emulsified
 - once the mix is stable, you can store it in the fridge to cool completely (overnight)
 - churn in an ice cream maker
 - store in the freezer

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