Foie Gras Poutine

I think i can credit my brother for many of my food knowledge. The only foie gras I knew was the foie gras pâté I would see at the grocery store, which is the lowest grade of foie gras you can find. My brother is a food connaisseur in my eyes. My first time enjoying foie gras the way it was intended, was at Au Pied de Cochon. It's a popular eatery in Montreal, and best known for their duck-in-a-can, which I have blogged about. People say you have to reserve weeks ahead for a table. I have been to PDC twice and had the Duck in a Can both times. I kind of regret not trying the foie gras poutine.

I was at the grocery store when I picked up a package of foie gras...certainly not the same quality as I could get at PDC I'm sure, but it was half the cost. So I bought it and found the recipe for PDC foie gras poutine online.

For the Foie Gras Sauce:

• 200 g (7 oz) fresh foie gras
• 6 x egg yolks
• 600 ml (2 ½ cups) PDC poutine sauce (available at the restaurant, or use store-bought poutine sauce)
• 50 ml (¼ cup) 35% m.f. cream

For the Foie Gras and Presentation of the Poutine:

• 4 slices slices fresh foie gras, 100 g (3 1/2 oz) each, 2 ½ cm (1 in) thick
• 400 g (14 oz) cheese curds
• 4 x white-fleshed potatoes (cut into French fries)
• Oil for frying (2/3 tallow and 1/3 peanut oil)

1. For the Foie Gras Sauce: Set aside 100 ml (½ cup of sauce for final presentation of the poutine. In a saucepan, bring the PDC poutine sauce to a boil.
2. Mix the egg yolks, foie gras and cream in a food processor at high speed.
3. Slowly add the 500 ml (2 cups) of hot poutine sauce to the mixture.
4. Pour into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until the sauce reaches 80°C (175 °F).
5. Remove the sauce from the heat. Stir for 30 seconds more. Keep warm.
6. For the Foie Gras and Presentation of the Poutine: Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F). In a very hot pan, sear the foie gras slices until they are golden brown. Transfer the slices to a baking sheet and finish cooking in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes.
7. Cook the fries in the oil until crisp and place them on top of a mound of cheese curds in the middle of the plate.
8. Place a slice of seared foie gras on the fries and smother in the foie gras sauce.
9. Decorate with a few dabs of regular poutine sauce and serve immediately.
   

The dish was surprisingly easy to make. I have never handled foie gras before and I was honestly a little bit grossed out by how greasy and fattening it was. The piece I bought was small and I only had enough for one portion, which was actually perfect because Kevin was not home for this. So I estimated how much to use for the sauce and how much to sear to put on top of the poutine. I used about 2/3 of the piece for the sauce. My seared pieces were pretty small so I didn't need to cook them in the oven (step 6). And since I cut down on the ingredients on the recipe, it probably wasn't exactly the way it should be. I was simmering the sauce and trying to get it to reach 175 F, I stopped at 160F because the foie gras sauce was getting grainy from being overcooked. It lost its creamy texture. The poutine was still quite good, and would love to try the real PDC version. In the meantime, my $10 foie gras poutine was good enough. My favorite thing about the foie gras poutine was actually the seared foie gras on top. They were perfectly cooked and browned and absolutely delicious!

Au Pied de Cochon/536 East Duluth, Montreal/ 514.281.1114

http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/

More recipes from Martin Picard: http://www.foodtv.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=111324