Sous vide foie gras – Of course, the purest way to taste foie gras is to sir a steak off of a fresh lobe in a turboheated cast iron pan. But if you’ve never cooked foie gras – or if you want to prepare it ahead of time and serve it whenever you want – I present the best, easiest and most delicious sous vide foie gras recipe. It’s foolproof.
If you’ve never cooked foie gras before and are looking to give your guests a taste of it, this is the recipe to try!
Of course, you need a circulator. It is a sous vide recipe, after all!
Foie gras torchon sous vide – crazy easy!
I've been making this torchon every Christmas for over a decade. Make it three months in advance and store it in the freezer — no one will know. Slice it frozen and lay it on top of the best burger you've ever assembled — everyone will notice. The sous vide method means no searing anxiety, no ruined liver, and results that are frankly embarrassing to claim credit for.
Ingredients
- 1 lobe of fresh foie gras – between 500 and 750 g
- 15 ml Calvados – optional
- White pepper from the mill
- Fine sea salt
- Fleur de sel or onion jam from a jar (For garnish)
Equipment
- Immersion heater
- Plastic wrap
- Aluminum foil
- A large bowl
Mise en place
- Place all ingredients and equipment on your work surface.
- Measure out the Calvados.
- Grind the white pepper into a small bowl near your work surface.
- Gently open the lobe with your fingers and search for the veins. Remove any you find. The first time you tackle a fresh foie gras lobe, this step can feel a little stressful — but don’t worry: since we’re making a torchon, the lobes don’t need to stay intact. If they get a little mangled in the process, no one will ever know. Most veins are obvious: long and very firm. But take your time and feel carefully between your thumb and index finger — there are smaller ones that also need to come out.
- The liver should now be in pieces on your work surface.
Method
- Season with a pinch of salt and a small pinch of ground pepper.
- Place in a large bowl.
- Pour the Calvados over the liver.
- Knead with your fingers. If you feel any pieces offering more resistance, rub them to make them smoother.
- Once the mixture is almost smooth, wash your hands.
- On your work surface, lay out a long sheet of plastic wrap.
- Then lay a second sheet, this one about halfway down the length of the first, so that they overlap horizontally.
- Pour the liver in the middle and down the length of the plastic wrap.
- Then bring the side away from the film towards you and give the liver a "sausage shape" of about 4 cm in diameter.
- Then roll up the ends like a piece of candy.
- Place the liver and its plastic wrap on top of a long sheet of aluminum foil, roll and and seal as best you can.
- Put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat your immersion heater to 80 °C / 176 °F.
- Put the whole package in for 7 minutes – make sure it's totally submerged.
- Then shock in a large bowl of water and ice cubes to stop the cooking.
- After a few minutes, remove the package from the water and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Presentation
- Place a knife in hot water to warm it up.
- Remove the liver from the refrigerator.
- Remove the aluminum foil.
- While the liver is still in its plastic wrap and using the heated knife, cut slices of 5 to 8 mm thick. Then carefully remove any pieces of plastic wrap around the foie.
- Serve on melba toast with two or three grains of fleur de sel or a tiny amount of onion jam.
Notes
READ MORE: American style Pulled Pork recipe. Click here!
