Foie Gras "Marrow Hearts of Palm, Passion Fruit, Pickled Strawberries"

5 from 1 vote

Here is a faux marrow dish I came up with when I bought some fresh hearts of palm earlier this summer. Fresh hearts of palm are a real treat if you can get your hands on them. Not a cheap ingredient because of the sourcing and the amount of work it takes to get fresh hearts of palm.

But being on the west coast for the summer availability from Hawaii is a little easier to come across. Hearts of palm can be eaten raw, depending on what variety you have sometimes they can be a bit woody raw. If that is the case you want to boil to the hearts of palm in water, salt and vinegar until they are tender. You can then place in a jar to preserve them or use them over the next few days.

Once the hearts of palm were tender I cut them in half. If you take out the inner layer it sort of looked just like a bone split down the middle. I thought why not fill it with a "fat" and call it a faux marrow. So I made a foie gras pate or terrine and filled the heart of palm with it.

I paired it with another ingredient that is prevalent in the summer which is passion fruit. A flavor that is also common in the tropical regions as well. Add a little spice with a Serrano sauce and pickled green strawberries for a little acid. Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

10 people

Pickled Green Strawberries

1/2 rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup champagne vinegar (white wine)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp coriander
3 garlic cloves
1 jalapeño

Hearts of Palm

5 lb fresh hearts of palm
1 gal water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup salt

Foie Gras (Prepared one day in advanced)

1 lobe Foie gras (1 1/2 lb roughly)cleaned of veins
3 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pink curing salt (Prague powder #1)
2 tbsp Cognac

Passion Fruit Sauce

1 cup passion fruit juice (10-12 large passion fruit, save the seeds)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp agar

Serrano Sauce

3 Serranos grilled
3/4 cup mayo or veganaise
salt to taste

Garnish

toasted bread crumbs
microgreens and herbs
sliced red radish

Nutritional information

Calories: 472kcalCarbohydrates: 80gProtein: 7gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 6247mgPotassium: 4206mgFiber: 4gSugar: 60gVitamin A: 420IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 65mgIron: 4mg

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 20

Servings 10 people

For the Pickled Green Strawberries

Add all the ingredients into a small pot except for the strawberries and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes to let the salt and sugar dissolve.
Place the strawberries in a preserve jar or into heat proof container and pour the hot brine over the strawberries. Cover and let it come to room temperature. (should be done at least 1 day in advanced.)

For the Hearts of Palm

Place all the ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for roughly 20 minutes or until the hearts of palm are tender. (Time really depends on how thick and big the palms are).
Once tender allow to cool to room temperature and you can pour all the liquid into a container to keep and preserve the hearts of palm.

For the Foie Gras

Take the "A" foie and allow to come to room temperature. On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper clean the lobe of any of the blood veins that are in the foie with a paring knife (I like to wear gloves when doing this). Try to not touch the foie with your hands as much as possible because the heat from your hands will melt the foie (think butter).
Alternative method would be to push the foie through a fine mesh tammi. Once cleaned of all the veins mix the salts and sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle the cognac all over the foie and then season heavily with the salt sugar cure mix. Then take two long pieces of plastic wrap and overlap them slightly.
Place the foie in the bottom 1/3 of the bottom piece of plastic. Roll the foie up into a log or sausage (using a cake tester or toothpick and make small holes in the log as you are rolling it up to allow air gaps to escape from your log. Once rolled up twist both ends of your plastic as tight as you can until you have a tight log. Then place into a cryovac bag and seal airtight. Allow to cure overnight (24 hrs). The next day bring a pot of water to 140 degrees using a sous vide machine if you have one. Cook for 10 minutes.
Then place in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Allow to cool for a few minutes. At this point you can take the foie out of the bag and place it all into a food processor. Puree until completely smooth. This will help emulsify the foie and attain a smooth product. Once pureed and smooth place half of it into a plastic pastry bag (tip not needed) The other half of the foie you can place into a mold (terrine) or sheet pan, or roll it back up into plastic wrap for a torchon. You can keep in the freezer if you don't want to use right away.
Take your hearts of palm and cut in half. Take out the inner layer and use for another recipe. Take your pastry bag of foie and fill each heart of palm.
Take an offset spatula and wipe each one smooth. Place into a refrigerator for at least an hour to harden the foie. You can clean them up more after they chill if need be.

For the Passion fruit sauce

Place all the ingredients into a small pot. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes and then pour into a shallow heat proof dish.
Place into a refrigerator until the gel has set. Then take the gel and place into a blender and puree until smooth. place into a squirt bottle and keep cool.

For the Serrano Sauce

Place all the ingredients into a vitamix, puree, season and place into a squirt bottle

To Finish

Take the hearts of palm and place on a plate. Add dots of passion fruit sauce and Serrano sauce around the plate. Add some of the seeds to the passion fruit sauce for a little crunch if desired.
Season the heart of palm with fleur de sel and top with toasted bread crumbs. Add the pickled strawberries and radish. Finish with micro greens and serve and enjoy!