Recipe - Down Island French Toast

1 Vanilla bean; preferably
Tahitian, cut in half
lengthwise
1 cup Cointreau or Curacao
1 teaspoon Ground mace
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 Orange ; Zest of
12 ounce Fresh foie gras; cleaned and
cut in half
5 Eggs; beaten
2 cup Half and half
12 sl Slightly cut or sliced up stale
broiche; cut into triangles
1/3 inch thick
One fourth cup Clarified butter

CITRUSSAVORY CARAMEL SAUCE
1 Three fourths cup Light or dark chicken stock
2/3 cup Fresh grapefruit juice
One half cup Sugar
2 cup Heavy cream
One half teaspoon Light soy sauce

EMERIL LIVE SHOW #EMIB11, SALUTING SOUTHERN CHEFS

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Add half of the scrapped beans to a
mixing bowl with the liquor. Add One half teaspoon ground mace, One half teaspoon
ground cinnamon, and orange zest, and whisk together. Put the foie gras
into the marinade and cover with plastic wrap. Slosh the marinade around a
little and keep refrigerated. Add the remaining vanilla bean seeds in a
mixing bowl, and add the eggs and half and half. Add the remaining mace and
cinnamon and beat the mixture together. Soak the brioche slices in the egg
mixture and allow them to absorb the flavor. Soaking time will depend on
the freshness of the brioche; the softer it is, the shorter the soaking
(sometimes 1 minute is sufficient). Keep covered in the refrigerator until
ready to complete the dish. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the
foie gras from the marinade and cut the slices about 1/4inch to 1/3inch
thick. Reserve on a chilled plate and discard almost all of the marinade.
Remove the brioche from the egg wash and lay the slices on a plate. Heat
the clarified butter in a nonstick skillet, add the bread, and cook over
medium heat until golden on both sides. Transfer to a plate and keep warm
in the oven. Reheat the caramel sauce and place 2 tablespoons on each of 4
warm serving plates. Heat a nonstick skillet or pan and when hot, sear the
foie gras slices over high heat for 15 seconds on each side until seared
and very dark. Place the foie gras on the brioche in layers: a slice of
brioche on the bottom, a slice of foie gras, then brioche, another layer of
foie gras, and topped with brioche. Serve with mixed tropical fruits and
orange segments, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe from Norman's New World Cuisine by Norman Van Aken, published by
Random House

CITRUSSAVORY CARAMEL SAUCE: Combine the stock, grapefruit juice, and sugar
in a shallow heavybottomed saucepan. Cook to the caramel stage; there will
be wisps of smoke coming from the center of the pan. Carefully whisk in the
cream. Allow the mixture to boil and deepen in color. Reduce the mixture to
1 or 1 One half cups, whisking constantly. When it is carameldark, add the soy
sauce. Strain through a finemesh strainer and reserve.

Yield: 1 to 1One half cups

Recipe from Norman's New World Cuisine by Norman Van Aken, published by
Random House

Posted to recipeludigest by molony molony@scsn.net on Feb 24, 1998