Another day and another original recipe. This one comes completely from what I had on hand which is what inspires 95 percent of my dishes. I had a small piece of foie gras that was big enough to sear, but I didn't want to prepare it that way. I was looking for different textures that I could pair with the osso bucco. The osso bucco I braised very traditionally with red wine, rosemary, and tomato. I had Farro which is an Italian form of wheat (wheat-berry) that is very much like barley. The weather here in Texas has been crazy this spring because you might have one day that is almost summer like weather and the next is freezing temperatures. The weather outside I think has a lot to do with what you feel like eating and ultimately cooking. Because it has turned very cold here overnight I decided to do more of a heartier dish for dinner. The end product was actually not that heavy but was a bit on the rich side. I tried to cut the richness with turnips, kohlrabi, and barolo truffle reduction (or balsamic reduction) . JP absolutely loved this dinner especially after he had been out of town for a few days. Great way to come home to!
Recipe
Foie Gras Flan (custard)
4 1/2 oz of foie gras cleaned and cut into 3 pieces
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
1 cup of heavy cream
2 tbsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Osso Bucco
3lb veal shanks
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
6 garlic cloves
3 tbsp of tomato paste
48 oz beef stock or chicken stock
1 cup of mushroom stems
2 tbsp olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary
2 cups of red wine
3 tbsp of butter
Farro
5 cups of water
1 cup of farro
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp of chimichurri
10 baby turnips peeled and parboiled
4 small kohlrabi peeled, cut into rounds, and parboiled
2 tbsp of either barrel truffle reduction or age balsamic reduction
For the Osso Bucco,
The is a basic braise. Take veal shanks and season with salt and pepper. In a braising pan with olive oil add the shanks to the pot to sear. Sear on both sides for about 4 minutes until golden brown. Then add all of your vegetables and cook for another 2 minutes. Deglaze with red wine. Then add your tomato paste. Reduce the wine by half then add the beef stock (chicken stock). Bring the stock to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Add the rosemary sprig and cover. Lightly simmer for 2- 2 1/2 hours until tender.
Strain off half of the sauce into a sauce pot and reduce by half. Finish the sauce with butter, salt, and pepper. Set aside until ready to use.
Preheat oven 300 degrees
For the Foie Gras Flan,
Season all 3 pieces of Foie gras and place into a small hot saute pan. Cook for a minute on each side. then place foie gras pieces and fat that was lost from sautéing into a blender. Immediately add the cream to the saute pan and bring to a boil and then turn off. Meanwhile place the eggs and yolk into the blender. Puree until smooth with the foie gras. While the blender is on low slowly temper the mixture with the cream a ladle at a time until you have mixed all of the cream into the foie gras and egg mixture. Season with sugar, salt, and pepper. Take 10 timbale molds and spray with non stick spray (olive oil flavored is what I used). Pour the foie custard into the molds 3/4 of the way full. Place the timbales into a shallow baking dish and fill half way up the side with boiling hot water. Cover the whole baking dish with foil. Place into the oven for about 35 minutes or until the custard sets. Take out and let it cool to room temperature.
For the Farro,
Simply rinse the farro under cold water. Add the 5 cups of water to sauce pot with salt. Bring to a boil and then pour in your farro. Cover and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour or until tender. Strain off any excess water if any and pour flat onto a sheet pan to cool.
For the Vegetables.
For the baby turnips peel and place in simmering salted water. Cook for roughly 8 minutes or until tender. Strain out and set aside.
For the kohlrabi,
Peel the kohlrabi, then take a biscuit round cutter and cut out a round of kohlrabi. Place kohlrabi in salted water and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Strain out and cut in half. Set aside until ready to use.
To plate,
Take a knife and run along the inside of the timbal of the foie gras flan. I served it room temperature but you could easily place back into the oven to serve warm. Unmold the flan on to plate. Then take either your barolo reduction or balsamic reduction and drizzle next to the foie flan. Take the farro and heat up in a pan with chimichurri sauce, season and spoon onto the plate. Then take your osso bucco and place a few pieces on top of your farro. Take vegetables and heat up in another pan with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place the kohlrabi in the middle and place the turnips on top of the farro next to the osso bucco. Finish the whole dish with the reduction sauce. Finish with some herb garnishes (fennel fronds) and serve!
