Confited foie gras, bramley apple compote and walnut crunch | Recipe by sousvidetools.com

Confited foie gras, bramley apple compote and walnut crunch

COOK TIME: 4 hours + 9 hours marinating and 2 days maturing
DIFFICULTY: Challenging
SERVES: 4

Ingredients

460g of foie gras, de-veined
10g of salt
2g of white pepper
16ml of Armagnac
1g of caster sugar
46ml of dry Madeira, reduced to half
23ml of dry white port
2l of milk

APPLE PURÉE

500g of Bramley apple, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp of caster sugar

APPLE COMPOTE

200g of Bramley apple, peeled and sliced
50g of Bramley apple, diced
1 tbsp of sugar

APPLE JELLY

250ml of apple juice
1g of agar agar
1g of caster sugar
1/2 gelatine leaf
1 lemon, juiced

WALNUT NOUGATINE

50g of walnuts
12ml of water
50g of sugar

WALNUT CRUNCH

10g of bread, crusts removed and cut into cubes
7g of corn starch
1 egg
10g of butter, melted
salt

WALNUT PURÉE

100g of walnuts
360ml of milk
18ml of walnut oil

TO PLATE

1 handful of micro watercress leaves
1 loaf of brioche

Equipment

Method

This delicious recipe by chef Adam Simmonds has been recreated for our website with kind permission from Great British Chefs.

METHOD

Begin by preparing the marinade for the foi gras by combining the Madeira, Armagnac, port, sugar and pepper
Now soften the lobes of foi gras by placing them (still in their bag) in a bowl of cold water. Once softened separate the lobes and remove all the veins and any traces of blood
Soak the open lobes of foi gras in the salt and milk for 60 minutes. Drain and pat dry before placing in a bowl along with the marinade you prepared earlier. Refrigerate for 8 hours.
Fill and heat your Sous Vide to 65°C
Drain the foi gras before placing into a shrink wrap bag and then vacuum seal
Submerge into boiling water and then immediately into ice water. Cook in the water oven until the core reaches 56 C. Leave the foi gras in its pouch and allow it to mature in the refrigerator for 2 days
Next move on to the apple puree, apple compote and apply jelly. Beginning with the apple puree boil 100ml of water before adding the sliced apples. Cook on high until soft. Blend the apples to a smooth consistency and then allow to cool quickly. Sweeten with sugar if required. Set 20g of the puree aside before adding the remainder to a piping bag. Set aside for later
To make the apple compote cook the peeled and sliced apples until they have completely collapsed. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool quickly. Then, add the diced apples to 100ml of boiling water and cook until soft yet still retain a little bite. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool quickly. Chop the sliced apples before adding to the diced apples and the 20g of apple puree you set aside earlier. Remove any tartness by adding a little sugar being careful not to over sweeten the apples
Make the apple jelly by mixing together the agar agar with the sugar. Whisk the sugar and agar agar mixture with ¼ of the apple juice. Allow to sit for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine on cold water. Boil the remaining apple juice rapidly whilst stirring continuously. Transfer to a bowl before adding the drained gelatine. Mix thoroughly then add the agar agar mixture and mix again. Allow to set quickly over a bowl of ice
Now to make the walnut nougatine, the walnut crunch, and the walnut puree. Begin with the walnut nougatine by roasting the walnuts until they are golden brown in colour. Crush lightly. Use a sugar thermometer to heat the sugar and water to 150°C. Remove from the heat before stirring in the walnuts. Turn on to greaseproof paper and allow to cool
Make the walnut crunch by evenly chopping 30g of the nougatine then mixing with the bread cubes. Whisk the egg along with the corn starch and a pinch of salt. Add to the nougatine and bread mixture and thoroughly combine. Stir in the melted butter then spread onto a baking tray. Bake until golden brown in the oven (approximately 20 minutes). Allow to cool then crush in a pestle and mortar
Now make the walnut puree by lightly roasting the walnuts in the oven before crushing with a pestle and mortar. Place in a pan along with the milk and bring to the boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer until soft (approximately 20 minutes). Place the mixture into a blender (you may need to drain some of the milk beforehand) and blitz. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the walnut oil. Adjust to taste.
Prepare to serve by dotting a plate with the apple and walnut purees and dusting with the walnut crunch
Place the sliced foi gras to the left of the plate before adding 5 small piles of the apple compote around it. Spoon the apple jelly on top of the apple compote
Finish with micro watercress and a slice of brioche

Back to Recipes

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

...