Seared Fois Gras with Brioche and Cherry-Ginger Compote

Hi there! So I had the incredible pleasure of attending a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) Bootcamp over the summer, where I was able to experience being in restaurant-cooking environment (almost, not quite as stressful). It was amazing; I learned a great deal, made some new friends, and got to make and taste some wonderful food! I definitely recommend the experience to others, but I’m not here to talk about that. The point of bringing it up was because the next couple of recipes will be from the recipes I made at the CIA! Today’s recipe is as the title says; it’s a wonderful recipe with a lightly seared fois gras piece on top of pan-fried brioche bread (I pre-bought mine at a local bakery, but feel free to make your own1!) with a cherry-ginger compote coloring up the top. I love this combination of flavors, but I recognize that fois gras is not many people’s favorite food. I used to be like that (for the past 19 years of my life), but once I tried it, I found that I actually really enjoyed its taste! So feel free to choose whether or not you’d like to give this recipe a try!

Ingredients:

·      14 oz fois gras, cut into 8 slices)

·      8 thick slices of brioche

·      2 tbsp butter

·      Coarse sea salt

·      2 cups of sugar

·      1 cup red wine vinegar

·      ¼ cup freshly minced ginger

·      4 cups fresh, pitted cherries

Place the sugar in a sauté pan and head over medium-low heat until the caramelized golden in color. Add the vinegar and deglaze the pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the ginger and cherries. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced and thickened. This is the Ginger Cherry Compote.

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium meat, add the brioche to the pan, and brown each side until golden. Heat a clean, dry sauté pan over medium-heat. Season both sides of the fois gras slices with sea salt, and lay each slice on the hot pan. Once each side has caramelized and browned, remove from the heat, place one slice on each piece of brioche with a generous portion of the Ginger Cherry Compote, and you’re all done!