Sunday 29 July 2007

Mini duck liver paté eclairs with chocolate-balsamic icing

I defrosted my freezer a few days before I had my BBQ. I came across the duck liver which I had left over from my last party. Just a few small livers, not enough to feed a party of 15-20 with a nice paté for starters. Still, I wanted to use it up and out of the blue I had the idea of duck liver filled paté.
I sort of didn't think any further (I do like experimenting with my patés by adding herbs, alcohols etc.), so when the time came to actually make the paté I wasn't prepared for any special flavours. While going through my fridge looking for potential paté enhancers I remembered the chocolate-balsamic glaze on the top shelf: also a leftover from my last dinner party. Brushed on top of the choux pastry it would make my little savouries look like the real chocolate eclairs. So Japanese fusion filling then. I had some pickled sushi ginger and fresh lemongrass. That's all I really needed.

Mini duck liver paté eclairs with chocolate-balsamic icing, for 10-15 small eclairs
For the duck liver paté

: 150g duck liver
: 1/2 stalk of fresh lemongrass
: 1 tbsp of pickled sushi ginger
: 100g butter
: soy sauce
: sesame oil

For the chocolate-balsamic glaze
: 100g caster sugar
: 50ml balsamic vinegar
: 50ml cider vinegar
: 30g good quality grated dark chocolate

Prepare the
eclairs/choux pastry shells.
Wash the duck livers and quickly fry them on a very hot griddle until slightly pink in the middle. Add some sesame oil and a good splash of soy sauce.
Remove the outer leaves from the lemongrass stalk and chop finely.
Place the liver together with the lemongrass, sushi and butter in a food processor to make a smooth and creamy paté.
To make the glazing, gently heat the vinegar and the sugar until the sugar has dissolved and simmer over a medium heat for a further 5 mins. Take off the heat and whisk in the chocolate.
Slice the eclairs in half and using a piping bag, fill them with paté and brush some of the chocolate-balsamic laze on top.

1 comment:

bossacafez said...

looks good! thx for choosing to use my recipe =)