Ding Dong! Here it comes, one gigantic box FedExed overnight to my doorstep -
Let's see what's inside?
2 bags of frozen foie gras!
Yes, this is my little splurge during holiday season,
But no way can a "little" girl like me finish 30 slices of fatty liver all by myself,
It was actually shared among 5 friends,
I guess after we managed to finish everything...
Our blood vessels will start feeling like clogging when seeing foie gras on the restaurant menu in the future..
So what's for lunch?
Seared foie gras and rib eye steak. Served with thyme infused balsamic glaze -
Ingredients (for 2)?
2 slices of foie gras
2 rib eye steaks
Some sea salts
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some olive oil
Thyme infused balsamic glaze:
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 tablespoons of balsamic glaze
1 tablespoon of hot water
1/2 teaspoon of honey
Additional thyme sprigs for garnish
How?
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the ingredients for the balsamic glaze to a small pot,
Turn to medium low heat and just let it simmer for about 3 minutes.
For the steaks,
Season both sides with sea salt and pepper.
Brush some olive oil on the grill pan, turn to high heat,
Wait till the pan turns very hot,
Transfer the steaks over and sear both sides for about 2 minutes each,
Move the grill pan and the steaks to the oven for about 5 minutes,
Once that's done, remove from heat and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.
For the foie gras,
Similar to steaks, season both sides with salt and pepper,
Use another pan, this time we don't need to drizzle any oil,
Simply sear both sides of the foie gras till lightly browned,
It should take less than 1 minute to sear both sides.
(And you'll see fats gradually melting away from the liver, mmm yummm)
Depending on the thickness and doneness you would like the foie gras to be,
You can choose to transfer them to the oven for addition 1 or 2 minutes,
Or eat them the way it is, as long as the center is not frozen anymore.
Plate the steak first, top with foie gras,
Drizzle some thyme infused balsamic glaze on the side,
A tiny final touch, garnish the food with fresh thyme sprigs.
Eating like a queen here..
Maybe I'll have salad the whole day tomorrow...
Cindy's rating: 8
Announcement:
I'm officially a proud owner of food processor!
It was one of the awesome deals I got during Black Friday,
$69.99 for a 7-cup white processor,
As I search through the internet now - just to make sure my $$ was saved,
The cheapest offer comes in $99.95, hooray Black Friday!
Eager to see how good this baby works,
The very next day, I made pesto again,
This time not with a blender, but with this new addition in the kitchen,
Ecstatically, no more excessive shaking of my blender.
Ingredients (for 2 large portion)?
Pesto:
1 small package/18 g/66 oz of basil
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup of Parmesan
1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts
2/3+ cup of olive oil
Some sea salts
Some freshly ground black pepper
Pork chops:
2 thick-cup pork chops
Some sea salts
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some smoked paprika
Some olive oil
Pasta:
Enough pasta of your choice for two people
1 medium/small carrot
1/3 onion
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Some sea salts
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some olive oil
(Pot of hot water plus some regular salts)
Poached Eggs:
2 Eggs
Some rice vinegar
(and a pot of hot water)
How?
Let's make the pesto first (I just can't wait to try out my food processor!),
Simply, yes, nice and easy,
Roughly chop the basil, cube or grate the Parmesan,
Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves, toast the pine nuts,
Toss all these ingredients into the food processor.
Give it a few pulses,
Add some salts and pepper,
Now slowly pour in olive oil while mixing at the same time,
I used at least 2/3 cup of olive oil,
You'll have to be the judge for the exact amount,
Just keep pouring if the mixture appears too dry.
For the pork chops,
Season both sides with some salts, pepper, smoked paprika, and brush with oil -
In the meantime,
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit,
Boil a big pot of water for the pasta,
Once boiled, add a spoonful of salts and cook the pasta according to package instruction,
Later on, drain well and set aside.
Brush additional olive on a grill pan, turn to high heat,
When the grill gets sizzling hot,
Sear both sides of the pork chops for about 3 minutes each,
Once that's done, transfer the whole thing into the oven for 10 minutes,
So that the center part can be cooked through.
After 10 minutes, remove from oven and let the meat rest for at least 5 minutes.
For the pasta,
Finely chopped the onion and carrot first.
Have a pan or skillet ready, drizzle some olive oil, turn to medium high heat,
Toss in chopped onion and sprinkle some salts and red pepper flakes,
Cook till the onion turns translucent, then add the carrot,
Sprinkle more salts and wait till the carrot softens.
Add the drained pasta into the pan, give it a quick stir,
Turn the heat off and mix in 1 tablespoon of butter,
The pasta can be on the light side, which is totally fine,
Why? Remember the pesto sauce we made earlier?
Just pour that all over the pasta and it'll be very delicious!
As for the poached egg yolk,
Ok...I admit, it was meant to be poached egg, I mean the whole thing,
Somehow it got messed up, the egg white was like all over the place,
At least I still ended up with wonderful poached egg yolks?
Not sure if I'm the best instruction giver on how to poach eggs,
But here's how I, or how you suppose to cook it:
Add some vinegar into a pot of water, bring to a boil then turn to medium low heat,
Crack the egg into a container first,
Now swirl the water and make a whirlpool in the middle,
Slowly drop the egg to the center, let it slowly cook the egg for few minutes,
Afterwards, remove the egg from water, preferably with a slotted spoon.
Time for plating,
Lay some pasta first, then top with thick and juicy pork chop,
Spoon some fresh pesto sauce over the meat,
Here's the important part,
Drop your perfectly poached egg (cough* cough* I mean egg yolk) on the pork chop,
Break it while the yolk is still warm,
Seeing the yolk gradually running down the meat onto the pasta,
What a wonderful scene.
This dish is definitely not hard to make,
I guess the only difficult step is poaching the eggs...hmm....
Plus many dishes piling up in the sink...don't we all hate the aftermath in the kitchen?
Cindy's Rating: 8
