Mille Feuille Of Foie Gras And Pain Depice With Spiced Red Wine And Poached Pear Recipes

SPICED RED WINE-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a 4-quart saucepan, combine wine, sugar, orange juice, zest, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. While liquid is simmering, peel pears, leaving stem intact and being careful not to blemish the flesh of the pears. Slice 1/2-inch off the bottom of the pears to create a flat bottom. Gently place pears in poaching liquid, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes to ensure even color, until pears are cooked but still firm. Remove saucepan from flame, uncover and cool with pears upright in pan. Once cool, cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally, if desired. Gently remove pears from liquid and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, reduce liquid by about half over a medium-high flame for 15 minutes, until liquid is thicker and slightly syrupy. Remove from flame and let liquid come to room temperature. Drizzle each pear with 2 tablespoons syrup and serve.

DUCK FOIE GRAS IN SPICED RED WINE

Steps:

• Pour the wine into a large cast iron pot and add all of the ingredients. Place a lid on the pot, and heat on the stove for a minimum of 5 minutes, or until boiling. Remove the pot from the fire and be sure that the duck liver is completely submerged in the liquid. Allow everything to come to room temperature, and then place the pot in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove the duck liver from the wine, and cut into thick slices. Accompany the meat with a salad and some green asparagus spears served with a vinaigrette.

SAUTEED FOIE GRAS WITH GINGER POACHED PEARS AND PINOT NOIR JUS

Steps:

• Season foie gras with salt and pepper. In a large, hot saute pan, saute the foie gras until golden brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate Place the gingerbread on a plate and top with the pears and foie gras. Sauce the plate with pinot noir jus and garnish the foie gras with the cacao nibs.
• Place all ingredients in a small pot and cover with a clean towel. Bring to a slow simmer. Cook until a knife will easily go into the pears. Remove pears form the heat and cool to room temperature in the liquid. Slice and fan the pears. Heat the pears in the poaching liquid before serving.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Cut the onion, carrot and leek into medium dice. In a medium saucepot, add the garlic and sweat the vegetables in 2 ounces of the olive oil until translucent and soft. Add the half bottle of pinot noir and reduce by half. Add the veal and brown chicken stocks and bring to a simmer, skimming scum off the surface often.
• Heat a pan and add the remaining 2 ounces olive oil and the squab bones. When the bones start to color, place the pan in the oven and roast the bones until golden brown. Add the bones to the sauce and deglaze the pan with 2 tablespoons pinot noir and add the deglazed fond to the sauce. Reduce the sauce by half, strain and discard the bones and vegetables. Continue to reduce to desired consistency and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of wine. Season with salt and pepper and pass through chinois.

SPICED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel the pears and put in a medium bowl with the lemon juice and enough water to cover to prevent browning.
• In a large heavy saucepan, combine the water, sugar, anise, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
• Stir the sugar mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the wine, port, ginger, and about 2/3 of the orange zest (the remainder will be used for garnish). Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.
• Add the pears. Place the lid on the pot so that steam can escape and simmer until the pears are tender when pierced with a toothpick. This will take about 25 minutes. Make sure that you turn the pears so that all sides are evenly cooked.
• Remove the pears from the cooking liquid with a slotted spoon. Transfer them to a plate, cover with plastic wrap, cool in the refrigerator about 2 hours.
• Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve to remove the cloves, zest, and other particulate. Return to sauce pan. At this point you can refrigerate the liquid if you plan on serving it within a day or 2.
• To reduce the sauce, simmer until desired consistency is achieved (about 30 minutes to my taste). Taste as you are cooking it to adjust sweetness to your taste (I don't like things that sweet, so the sauce is tart when made according to the recipe).
• Serve each pear with a little sauce drizzled over and sprinkle with remaining zest. Mint & dark chocolate also make good garnishes.

FOIE GRAS ON A BED OF PEARS

Steps:

• Srinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the foie gras and keep at room temperature.
• Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add pear slices and brown sugar. Caramelize, turning often. Place the caramelized pears on two warm plates.
• Sear the foie gras on each side over medium-high heat in the frying pan (cooking time is delicate as it can vary from 15 seconds to 1 minute per side, depending on the thickness of the foie gras).
• Place the foie gras on the pears.
• Deglaze the frying pan with the balsamic vinegar, then add the cider (or apple juice) and the rosemary. Let it reduce a little, then pour over the foie gras. Decorate with a sprig of fresh rosemary.
• Try serving with a little green salad, using any remaining sauce as the dressing.

SPICED RED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Halve the lemon, and remove 3 wide strips of rind. Peel the pears, leaving a topknot of skin and the stem, if it's attached; rub with the cut lemon. Working from the bottom, core the pears.
• Choose a pot that will hold the pears snugly. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit inside the pot. Cut 4 slices from the lemon and put them, the strips of zest and all the other ingredients - except the pears - into the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and add the pears, tops up - it's O.K. if they're not fully submerged. Cover with the paper circle and the pot's lid.
• Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes - the pears should still be slightly firm but easily pierced with the tip of a knife; transfer them to a bowl. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes, pour over the fruit and discard the spices. Serve slightly warm, at room temperature or chilled, with or without cream.

POACHED PEARS IN SPICED RED WINE

Steps:

• Halve the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the black seeds and put in a large saucepan with the wine, sugar, cinnamon and thyme. Cut each piece of pod into three long thin strips, add to pan, then lower in the pears.
• Poach the pears, covered, for 20-30 mins, making sure they are covered in the wine. The cooking time will very much depend on the ripeness of your pears - they should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick. You can make these up to 2 days ahead and chill.
• Take the pears from the pan, then boil the liquid to reduce it by half so that it's syrupy. Serve each pear with the cooled syrup, a strip of vanilla, a piece of cinnamon and a small thyme sprig.