Seared Foie Gras with Green Grapes

Yield 4-8
RECIPE Ingredients
  • 1 cup finest seedless green grapes
  • 1½ cups Muscat, Sauternes, or late-harvest Riesling
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • Salt
  • White pepper
  • 1 Hudson Valley Grade A Duck Foie Gras, sliced to make 4 diagonal pieces, 4 to 5 oz each
  • ¼ cup very fine, dry, plain bread crumbs
  • Maldon or other sea salt
Recipe notes
This easy sautéed foie gras recipe with delicate green grapes is beautiful, elegant and ideal for dinner parties.
RECIPE Preparation
  1. For the sauce, blanch the grapes in boiling water in a heavy medium saucepan for 1 minute; drain. Peel the grapes and set aside.
  2. Put the wine into the pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reducing it to about ¼ cup, about 10 minutes. It will have a syrupy consistency.
  3. Add the stock, vinegar, and nutmeg and boil until thickened a bit and reduced almost by half, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and boil until the sauce is just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the peeled grapes and swirl them around in the sauce. Reduce the heat to low. Season with salt and pepper. Keep it warm over very low heat.
  5. For the foie gras, dust each piece with bread crumbs and season with salt. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the foie gras, then move the skillet off the heat briefly. Reduce the heat to medium. Return the skillet to the heat and finish searing the foie gras, turning it halfway through, until deep golden brown, 1-1½ minutes per side.
  6. Transfer the foie gras with a slotted spatula to warm plates and spoon the sauce and grapes around it. Sprinkle a little salt on top of each serving.