The inspiration for this dish got here from a dish we loved on the Librije. Often once I use a restaurant dish for inspiration I don’t attempt to make an actual copy, however attempt to simplify it to get to the essence of the dish with as little effort as doable (80% of the flavour for 20% of the hassle). The dish at Librije was foie gras with gray shrimp, tomato water, and lime. I believed it will be good to make an amuse bouche primarily based on that concept. At first I attempted it with kaffir lime zest, however once I had the identical dish for the second time at Librije, I spotted that kaffir lime leaf can be higher. I’ve stored this dish so simple as doable, and am very pleased with the end result. For one of the best taste you must peel the shrimp your self, however that’s fairly a chore and such small shrimp are laborious to seek out unpeeled. I think about that outdoors of the Netherlands it might even be tough to seek out these small gray shrimp in any respect. They’re much extra flavorful than their bigger cousins. However should you can’t discover them, by all means substitute with the smallest shrimp you could find. If you’re sticking to my approach of plating, you might find yourself with a primary course sized portion although should you make a circle of bigger shrimp.
Kaffir lime leaves may be discovered frozen at Asian markets, however I choose them contemporary from my kaffir lime timber.
Sous vide is just not solely a good way to cook dinner the foie gras (it was truly initially invented for precisely that objective), however additionally it is a good way to infuse oil with the lime leaves.
Elements
For 8 servings as an amuse bouche
- 120 grams (4 oz) uncooked foie gras
- 8 kaffir lime leaves (contemporary or frozen, not dried)
- 750 grams (1.7 lbs) plum tomatoes
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) peeled small gray shrimp
- some Japanese soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp mild olive oil
- 2 grams (beneficiant 1/4 tsp) desk salt
- 1 gram (1/4 tsp) powdered sugar
- 1/16 tsp gentle chile powder, corresponding to New Mexico or Ancho, elective
Directions
Begin with the tomato water the day earlier than. Wash and dry 750 grams of tomatoes. Quarter them, and put them in a blender or meals processor.
Mix till fairly clean (however you don’t wish to crush the seeds).
Place a sieve on a big bowl and prepare a cheesecloth on prime. Pour the tomato pulp on the cheesecloth.
Remodel the cheesecloth right into a knapsack by taking the 4 corners, and utilizing some string to shut it. Cling the knapsack above the bowl and permit the tomato water to empty in a single day.
Season the tomato water to style with Japanese soy sauce. Use solely just a little as it isn’t purported to style like soy sauce; it solely serves to reinforce the tomato taste.
Vacuum seal 120 grams of uncooked foie gras with nothing else within the bag. Take away the central rib of 8 lime leaves, and slice them into very slender strips (chiffonade). Vacuum seal 2 tablespoons of light-flavored additional virgin olive oil with the lime leaf strips. If you don’t personal a chamber vacuum machine, it’s best to make use of a ziploc bag and the water displacement methodology.
Prepare dinner the foie gras sous vide for two hours at 57C/135F and infuse the olive oil with the lime zest on the similar time by putting that bag in the identical water bathtub. The warmth will assist to extract the lime taste out of the leaves. This course of is accelerated by slicing the lime leaves thinly somewhat than leaving them complete.
Mix all of the contents of the bag with the sous vide cooked foie gras till clean. Be sure that there is no such thing as a fats left behind within the bag earlier than you begin mixing. Add 2 grams of salt and 1 gram of powdered sugar and mix a bit extra to combine. Chill the pureed foie gras within the fridge for about an hour, stirring each quarter-hour or so to combine the fats that can float on prime again in. Hold chilling till after quarter-hour no extra fats has risen to the floor.
Place the foie gras in spherical silicon molds with a diameter of 4 cm (1.5 inches), after which permit to agency up, coated, within the fridge. This can in all probability take at the least 4 hours. The foie gras ought to really feel very agency earlier than you attempt to take it out of the mildew.
Zeef de limoenolie.
Take the foie gras out of the mildew and place one piece on every plate.
Rinse the shrimp with chilly water and pat fry with kitchen paper. Place the shrimp in a bowl and season to style with 1 teaspoon of the lime-infused oil, only a little bit of salt, and 1/16 teaspoon of gentle chile powder. You shouldn’t be in a position to style the chile individually, identical to the soy within the tomato water, it serves solely to reinforce the flavour of the shrimp. Organize the shrimp on prime of the foie gras as proven within the photograph. Pour the tomato water across the foie gras, and spoon some drops of lime-infused oil across the foie gras. It’s best to deliver the plates to the dinner desk first and add the tomato water and oil there, because the dish gained’t keep as good when strolling with it. Do all of this shortly after you are taking the foie gras out of the fridge, as a result of it’s going to soften because it warms up and can lose its form and will trigger the tomato water to change into murky.
Wine pairing
That is nice with an off-dry German Riesling (Spätlese or Auslese) or with a “Dry” (“Sec”) Champagne. The terminology for the dryness of champage may be complicated, as a result of Further Dry sounds very dry, however is just not as dry as Brut. To work with the foie gras, a “Dry” Champagne with 17 to 33 grams per litre of residual sugar, is one of the best pairing. Champagne kinds are as follows:
- Brut Nature, 0-3 grams residual sugar per litre
- Further Brut, 0-6 grams
- Brut, 0-12 grams
- Further Sec or Further Dry, 12-17 grams
- Sec or Dry, 17-33 grams
- Demi-Sec, 33-50 grams
- Doux, 50 or extra grams
