Here is one of 6 courses I served from the Bloomingdale/Frans Drescher dinner. This was later in the summer when all of the melons are at the peak of ripeness. The Gala melon that was available during this time frame was absolutely amazing. Sweet, but still firm, none of that mushy texture when melons become over ripen. I was able to get my hands on white salmon or ivory and thought that I would make a terrine with the salmon, foie gras terrine, and the melon. I decided to take the scraps of the leftover melon and make a “broth” for the terrine. Now a days, for me, it is very hard to decide what to make for dinner guests. I get that people just want delicious food, but trying to decide who’s coming to dinner and sometimes I don’t know if people have allergies or not so I have to be sensitive to that when thinking about menus. But because foie gras normally will turn a lot of people off I actually gave all the guests the option for this first course. I gave them the option of this recipe or a watermelon gazpacho and in some cases I gave some people both. Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it!
1 1/2 lb white salmon smoked and quick cure
1 cup salt
1 cup rice vinegar
10 oz of foie terrine see recipe sliced 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 gala melon sliced thin on mandolin
2 cucumber (melon) peeled shaved on mandolin no seeds
Melon lemongrass broth
1/2 melon and scraps
1 cucumber and scraps
2 lemongrass stalks
1 lime
Salt to taste
Shiso leaves
Cilantro flowers
Chives
Cilantro oil
For the Salmon,
This is for quick curing and smoking. I just wanted to add a little extra flavor to the fish and didn’t make this a day in advance so it was all done on the same day. I placed the salmon in square baking dish and placed the vinegar on top of the salmon along with the salt. I cured the salmon like this for 30 minutes. Then I rinsed off the cure. I place the salmon in a stove top smoker with iced packed in side to simulate a cold smoked salmon. I filled the smoker with wood chips and smoked it for 2-3 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and let it sit in the smoker for 30 minutes to soak up any of the residual smoke. Then place the salmon in the refrigerator for 45 minutes. Then take out and slice thin on the bias and set aside to assemble the terrine.
In a terrine mold or loaf pan line the mold with plastic wrap allowing enough excess plastic to hang over the edges. Alternate layers of cucumber, then salmon, then melon, and foie gras. Continue that layering until you have used all of your ingredients or until your terrine is full. Wrap the left over plastic wrap on top of the salmon terrine. Place in the refrigerator to chill completely. You can weigh the terrine down or press it at this point with something heavy like canned food or something similar ( I normally have a thick piece of cardboard cut in the exact size of the terrine mold. I place that on top of my wrapped terrine, and place the weight on top of the cardboard. Place it in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
For the melon broth,
Place all of the lemongrass, melon, and cucumber in a vita mix. Puree until smooth. Strain out through a chinois. Season the broth with lime and salt and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To Finish,
Take out the terrine and unmold. Keep the terrine in the plastic wrap and using a sharp knife cut across the terrine and lay each slice down flat (You can cut this ahead of time and keep it on a plate in the refrigerator). Take the plastic off carefully and place in the center of the bowl. Season the terrine with fleur de sel, chives, shiso, and cilantro flowers. Then add the broth to the bowl. Finish with a little cilantro oil, serve and enjoy!
