Be bold!
To follow up Hot Oysters on the Radio recipe from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef (Ten Speed Press, Fall 2011), here's rich taste of foie gras from Montreal.
Foie Gras Breakfast Sandwich
Makes 1 sandwich
Maple Mustard
¾ cup (230 g) maple syrup
½ cup (125 ml) Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon pepper
Other ingredients:
2 thin slices Canadian back bacon or Peameal Bacon (page 100)
1 egg
1 English muffin, split
2 tablespoons canola oil
4-ounce (115-g) piece fresh duck or goose foie gras, ¾ inch (2 cm) thick
Salt and pepper
1. To make the maple mustard, bring the maple syrup to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat and boil for about 6 minutes, or until the bubbles increase in size. Remove from the heat, let cool for about 3 minutes, then whisk in the prepared mustard, the mustard seeds, and the pepper. Let cool completely before using. Maple mustard stores well in a tight-capped container in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks.
2. The best thing to have for this operation is one of those plug-in flat, nonstick griddles, the kind the tasting ladies have in the grocery store. You can cook your egg, bacon, and muffin on the griddle while you blast the liver on the stove top. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C); this is to keep the bacon warm after cooking or to blast the foie if need be. Turn on the griddle and set to medium-high heat. When the griddle is ready, cook the bacon until the edges are golden brown and lightly crispy, fry the egg over easy, and toast the cut sides of the muffin.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. When the frying pan is superhot, add the liver and cook, turning once, until nicely colored. You want a good color on the foie gras, kind of like the skin of a roasted chicken. This will take only a minute or two total in a very hot pan. Remember to flip the liver away from you so you don’t splash your belly. Carefully transfer the liver to a baking sheet. If the liver is still hard to the touch, put it in the oven for a minute or two. The fat that collects in the baking sheet (but not the fat from the frying pan) is good to drizzle on the muffin.
4. Now build your sandwich: start with a muffin half, cut side up, and top it with the bacon, the egg, and the foie. Drizzle the stack with a little mustard, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and top with the other muffin half.
(* Reprinted with permission from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef by Fredéric Morin, David McMillan & Meredith Erickson, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.” Photo credit: Jennifer May © 2011)