Name: Home-made terrine of foie gras
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 111 h 50 min
Yield: 1 foie gras
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 raw foie gras (weight about 500 g); 6 g fine (or table) salt; 2 g pepper; 0.5 g "Quatre-épices" spice blend; 5 g caster sugar; 5 ml Port; 5 ml Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac)

Step by step recipe

Step 1 - ⌛ 2 min.

If your liver is already deveined, skip to step 9.

Deveining:

Take the liver out of the fridge at least two hours beforehand, so it will be at room temperature and soft.

Rinse it thoroughly under warm water to eliminate any remaining traces of blood, then dry it with absorbant paper.

Step 2

Pull the two lobes apart gently.

Step 3 - ⌛ 20 min.

Pull the veins carefully towards you and remove them, without breaking or cutting, by passing your fingers underneath and following them right to the end.

This is the first tricky stage of the recipe. Your hands will get very greasy (to be expected with a foie gras, you might say), and you should not leave any veins, or as few as possible.

Step 4 - ⌛ 1 min.

You might feel more comfortable working in fine rubber (surgical) gloves.

I recommend using a vegetable peeler as the point does the job quite well.

Another tip: have a bowl or a large cup in front of you and scrape the sticky veins off the blade into this as you work.

Step 5 - ⌛ 1 min.

Once done, don't worry about the forlorn look of the liver, it's past caring!

Step 6 - ⌛ 30 min.

To remove any traces of blood, put the liver in cold water with a tablepoonful of coarse salt and some ice cubes added, for half an hour.

Then rinse the liver under running cold water and dry on absorbant paper.

Step 7 - ⌛ 1 min.

Line a wide oven-proof (gratin) dish with cooking-grade plastic film.

This is not essential, it just makes cleaning the dish afterwards much easier.

Step 8 - ⌛ 2 min.

Spread the liver out in the dish in a single layer, as far as possible.

Step 9 - ⌛ 2 min.

If your liver is already seasoned, skip step 13.

Seasoning:

Start by adding the alcohol. Trickle a few shlurps of Armagnac and Porto over the liver.

You only need a little, otherwise the flavour of the booze will dominate over that of the liver, which is a shame.

Note: Prefer white alcohols instead of red ones, because red ones turn liver to grey when cooking.

Step 10 - ⌛ 4 min.

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 10

Weigh and mix the seasonings: salt, pepper, sugar and "quatre épices" spice blend (see below*). Do calculate these quantities carefully and respect the following proportions:7 g salt and 2 g pepper for 600 g liver.

The best way to do this is by using precise scales, but you can also measure them: 1 level teaspoon = 5 g of fine salt or 2.5 g of ground pepper (or near enough).

This is the second tricky stage of the recipe. It is important to use the right quantity of salt for the weight of liver. To help you, here is a little automatic calculator.

Step 11 - ⌛ 2 min.

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 11

After weighing the correct amounts, mix the seasonings and scatter the mixture over the liver.

To spread them more evenly, scatter half, then turn the pieces of liver before adding the other half.

Step 12 - ⌛ 12 hours

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 12

Cover the seasoned liver in its dish with a plastic film and refrigerate overnight.

Please note: the liver's maturing time in the fridge is important for the flavour. If you don't do this, it will still be good, but not quite as good as if left overnight.

Step 13 - ⌛ 2 hours

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 13

Next day, the liver is ready to be cooked. Take out of the fridge and remove the plastic film at least 2 hours before cooking.

Step 14

Cooking

It must be recognized, cooking is THE difficulty of preparing the liver, it must reach a certain temperature at heart, 60°C (140°F) for example, and this temperature must be reached gently, otherwise the liver melts and loses all its fat.

I suggest 2 cooking methods, the classic bain-marie terrine cooking, called "De Françoise", and especially cooking called "flat" ":

Step 15 - ⌛ 40 min.

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 15

1) "Flat" cooking

Preheat the oven to 210°F (100°C), preferably without fan - quite unnecessary at such a low temperature.

Stick a thermometer into the thickest part of the liver and put in the oven.

If you'd like to keep the liver "pink", cook until the temperature reaches 122°F (50°C). For "mi-cuit" (just properly cooked, but not overdone), cook until it reaches 149°F (65°C).

If you don't have a thermometer, count 30 minutes cooking for "pink" and 45/50 minutes for "mi-cuit". Unfortunately, these times can only be approximate as your oven and the room temperature will have a marked effect on the cooking. In other words, as soon as you can, buy yourself a thermometer.

Step 16

After cooking, the liver looks unattractive swimming in its fat and cooking juices, but don't worry, this is perfectly normal.

Step 17

Now it's time to pack the terrine with the pieces of liver.

Use a skimmer to fish the pieces of liver out of the dish, drain them...

Step 18 - ⌛ 5 min.

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 18

...and transfer to the terrine.

If you intend turning out the terrine later, choose the best-looking and largest pieces first to go in the bottom and finish up with the smaller ones (as in the photo).

Step 19

If, on the other hand, you will be serving the terrine straight from the dish, save the best pieces until last (like in this photo).

This cooking method, inspired by chef Eric Leautey, is very efficient as the centre of the liver gets up to temperature more rapidly when it is in a thin layer. This is the method I use for years.

Step 20

2) "De Françoise"

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

Roughly reconstitute the liver in the terrine, placing the pieces on top of each other.

Step 21

Place the terrine in a baking dish that you fill 3/4 of boiling water.

Step 22

Put the dish in the oven and let the liver cook for 50 minutes uncovered, checking regularly with a thermometer that the water temperature is 158 ° F (70 ° C):

- If the temperature rises too much add half a glass of cold water
- If it goes down too much increase the temperature of the oven a little and pour a little boiling water in the dish (it is good to have a small pot of water on the fire handy throughout cooking).

Step 23

At the end of this time, remove the terrine from the oven and pour the liquids contained (fat and cooking juices) into a container, retaining the liver with a skimmer.

Your "De Françoise" terrine cooking is finished.

Step 24

Finish the terrine by pouring over a little of the molten fat from the cooking dish.

Step 25

This is not just an attractive finishing touch; once set, it will help the terrine keep better.

Step 26

The final stage is to compact the terrine a little. I use a block of polystyrene cut to fit the shape of the dish (but a piece of thick cardboard would do just as well), covered with aluminium foil. I place this on top of the contents of the terrine and stand two jars of jam on top. The weight of the full jars is enough to press the terrine.

Leave to cool for 2 hours at room temperature, then refigerate.

Step 27 - ⌛ 4 days

Home-made terrine of foie gras : Step 27

The "press" contraption can be removed after a couple of hours in the fridge.

Your terrine should be left for at least 4 days in the fridge before eating, to give time for the flavour to mature fully.

Step 28

Note that it's also possible to cook using a 3rd method, "En ballotine", which is both very simple and quite quick. See how to do it with this recipe: foie gras en ballotine

Step 29

The service

Serve your foie gras either by removing the terrine from the mold (immerse the bottom for a few seconds in hot water to facilitate demoulding) and turning it over on a serving dish to cut slices, as on this photo.

Or, without removing it from the mold, by cutting slices in the bowl directly to the taste of the guests.

In all cases, take the bowl out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving , so that it is not too cold during the tasting.

Remarks

After step 24, don’t throw away the remaining fat; once separated from the cooking juices, which should be discarded, it can be kept in the fridge for weeks in a sealed jar and used in various recipes, such as Sarladaise apples, for example. If, however, you do not wish to keep it, leave it in the fridge overnight to set, then break it into pieces and leave them on your balcony or in your garden, the birds love it, especially in winter.

If you’d prefer a more natural flavour, closer to that of foie gras, you can significantly reduce, or even omit, the alcohol in this recipe.

Still on the subject of alcohol, there’s no need to be too fussy about the type or brand; whether you use Cognac or Armagnac makes little difference (in this recipe), and the same goes for Port and Sherry or other fortified wines such as Marsala, Maury, Madeira, etc.

As for the bread that goes best with foie gras, don’t be too tempted by industrial sandwich bread or, worse still, brioche or gingerbread (!), these are completely unsuitable. It’s better to try a slightly heartier, slightly tangier bread, such as a good country loaf, for example. The very best option is sourdough bread.

If this recipe worries you and you’re put off trying it because of the veining process, you could try an easier method using a foie gras terrine.

If, like me, you’re a foie gras aficionado but have issues with force-feeding, take heart.

To find out everything you need to know about how to enjoy foie gras and what to serve it with, take a look at: Serving foie gras.

The 7 comments already posted on this recipe

For those new to this, like me, please note that the two means of cooking are 'either/or' rather than 'and,' especially as instructions are numbered as if it were a two step process. It might save some people time and money.
Posted by Robert december 4^th 2025 at 16:10 n° 7
You can't.
Instead use a smaller container, a jar for example.
Posted by Anonymous may 3^rd 2016 at 14:51 n° 6
How can I compensate for not having a small enough terrine for the liver?
Posted by Anonymous may 3^rd 2016 at 13:59 n° 5
Thank you for this recipe. i have about 30 pheasant livers and 10 mallard livers and am making a few pots of pate . I am surprised that you havent blended your pate, why is that, every recipe I have seen blends the liver after adding other ingredients.
Posted by peter october 24^th 2012 at 18:56 n° 4
Blending is not needed because seasonings are sprinkled all around liver sides.
Posted by jh Auteur october 26^th 2012 at 13:33 n° 3
I wish I would have found your site before I made my terrine today. I appreciate your alternate version #3, I will attempt it next time, it looks much easier. Now I have a question about freezing my terrine for New Years Eve. Will freezing change the texture or the taste. Thank you for responding. Have a good day.
Posted by Rose december 11^th 2010 at 01:44 n° 2
No, don't be worry, freeze don't change texture or taste. But if you plan to make your terrine for new year eve, you could also wait some more days, and make it around the 20th, and keep in the fridge with a plastic film on top. Anyway, don't forget to remove it from the fridge, one hour before serving to your guests, taste will be better, and texture smoother. Have a nice new year "réveillon" !
Posted by jh Auteur december 11^th 2010 at 16:30 n° 1

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	11 g RDI=18 %	4 g RDI=2 %	43 g RDI=59 %	454 kcal RDI=23 %	1,900 kJ RDI=23 %
Whole recipe	60 g RDI=92 %	23 g RDI=8 %	226 g RDI=309 %	2,375 kcal RDI=119 %	9,942 kJ RDI=119 %