One of my favorite ingredients to cook with is foie gras. I’ve intentionally not used it for several months now as I fear it had become a kind of crutch. Then I ended up with three extra lobes of grade “A” goodness after a party changed its mind at the last minute. Looks like foie is back on the menu for the foreseeable future.

This dish is a bruleed foie gras custard with powdered pistachio, strawberry and citrus segments, local microgreens and red wine reduction.

The pistachio powder was a puree of pistachio, blended with tapioca maltodextin. After it had granulated, it was passed through a tammis and then dehydrated slowly under the heat lamp of our pass-through window.

The custard was ten ounces of foie gras, seasoned, seared then chilled. It was then blended with eggs and cream and poured into a silicone mold to cook in a water bath until set. After chilling, it was turned out of the mold and onto the plate.

I was in the weeds today, so I didn’t let the custard rest long enough for the air to escape before cooking it. In an effort to conceal some of the bubbles I added some sugar to the top and bruleed it. This worked very well, as it added some texture and enough sweetness to balance the richness of the custard.