Elena Fernandez

During 3 years since I moved to Seattle I´ve trying with no success to find fresh duck foie. I have to admit that this is not an easy thing to find in Spain either. You won´t find it in our neighborhood store as foie is considered there kind of a wedding banquet delicacy.

I´d just given up when yesterday I discovered by chance at my local Uwajimaya a frozen area full of these weird ingredientes that maybe a minority of Asian, French and Spaniards love to cook: quail, pig tail, rabbit and duck in all their versions: foie, magret and confit. I had tu rub my eyes to be sure that I was not in the middle of a dream… So, in an impulse I decided to grab two beautiful sirloin steaks too to prepare one of these dishes that we enjoy in banquets and Christmas festivities.

Once at home I told my griller master, my 11 year old son, to prepare the sirloin on the grill while I sliced the foie blocks in the middle to cook them properly. You only need to prepare them pan seared 2 minutes each side. I decide to grill red bell peppers too because they have a powerful flavor but not too heavy as a starch so they could balance the whole dish.

The final touch was a sherry vinegar reduction, a really personal and new creation: 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 3 tablespooons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a tablespoon of lavender cooking slow for around 10 minutes. My lavender comes from one of my favorite places in WA, Purple Haze Lavender Farm. A place that I visited two years ago. I was a bit concerned about the marriage between the foie and the lavender but thinks worked out perfectly so I wanted to share this discovery to you in case you want to surprise somebody close to your heart with this beautiful dish.

Oh, a final detail. When you put the foie on top of the sirloin add a pinch of Maldon salt. This salt will bring the best from this beautiful fatty piece to your mouth.