Name: Terrine of foie gras
Prep time: 16 h 53 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 17 h 8 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 raw foie gras (weight about 500 g); 7 g salt; 2 g pepper; 1 pinch "Quatre-épices" spice blend; ½ tablespoon Port; ½ tablespoon Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac)

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - ⌛ 2 hours

Take the liver out of the fridge at least two hours in advance so that it can come to room temperature and soften.

Rinse thoroughly under warm running water to remove any remaining traces of blood.

Dry with absorbant paper.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 5 min.

Cut into pieces.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 20 min.

Mince with a vegetable mill, using the finest blade.

Stage 4

An alternative (but more tiring): push the pieces through a fine sieve using a maryse.

Stage 5

With both methods you will need to remove the veins and skin left behind at regular intervals. This is a very simple and efficient way of removing the veins from foie gras.

Stage 6

Scrape the underneath of the the blade so that the minced liver drops.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 3 min.

Then tip the minced or sieved liver into a gratin dish, which you have weighed beforehand (and made a note of the weight somewhere).

You can line the dish with coooking film to save the washing up later, but this is not essential.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 10 min.

Once all the liver has been prepared, weigh the dish again, subtract its empty weight and so calculate the weight of liver.

Calculate the weight of salt and pepper needed using this little automatic converter, and season in 2 stages: add half the seasoning (salt + pepper + spice), turn the liver over gently and add the remaining seasoning.

Please note: although the amount of seasoning should be calculated precisely, the amount of alcohol is entirely a matter of taste, but don't overdo it - the flavour of the liver should not be overpowered by that of the alchohol.

Stage 9 - ⌛ 2 min.

Add the alcohol.

Stage 10 - ⌛ 14 hours

Then cover the dish with stretch cooking film and refrigerate overnight.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 15 min.

Next day, take the dish out of the fridge 2 hours in advance so that it comes up to room temperature (important for proper cooking).

Preheat the oven to 90°C (194°F) and cook the liver for 15 minutes.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 3 min.

Take the dish out of the oven and remove the plastic film. Don't panic at the awful sight; your terrine isn't ruined.

Stage 13

Use a skimmer to take small amounts of liver from the dish (the worryingly soft texure is quite normal)...

Stage 14 - ⌛ 10 min.

...and fill your terrines...

Stage 15

...carefully.

It's a good idea to tap the base of the terrine on a teatowel folded in 4 to help the liver to pack down. Smooth the surface with a maryse.

Put the lid on and refrigerate for 3 or 4 days (if you can wait that long) to allow the flavours to develop fully.

Stage 16

You will see that the texure is very smooth, which is characteristic of a terrine of foie gras.

The terrine will keep in the fridge for ten days or so, but I advise you to protect a started terrine with plastic film to prevent oxidation which would turn it a greyish colour.

Stage 17

This video show you how to make this recipe using a sieve.

Remarks

This recipe has been simplified especially to help beginners. If you prefer to go on to a more advanced level, try the "Home-made terrine of foie gras ".

The French "Foie gras en terrine" as opposed to "Terrine de foie gras"; the names are very similar and can lead to confusion. It is worth knowing the difference:

Foie gras en terrine: the veins are removed from the liver by hand, so conserving as many large pieces as possible which are then cooked and arranged in terrines. These famous pieces give a marbled texture.
Terrine de foie gras (this recipe): the whole liver is put through a vegetable mill producing a smooth texture, even if a number of livers are used.

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).

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	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	60 RDI=20 %	20 RDI=2 %	230 RDI=30 %	2,370 RDI=120 %	9,900 RDI: 120 %
Per 100 g	10 RDI=4 %	3 RDI=0 %	40 RDI=7 %	450 RDI=20 %	1,890 RDI: 20 %

Terrine of foie gras