This is one of Dominique Crenn’s signature dishes. This recipe, in various forms, is often used in her tasting menus and is a very difficult dish to complete in a home kitchen. The use of a food dehydrator as well as liquid nitrogen is required. It’s included to give you a glimpse at what goes into a two-Michelin-star recipe. However, we recommend this only for the most adventurous of home cooks.
Ingredients
For Corn Silk Nest and Foie Gras Pearls
- Silk from freshly shucked corn, about 4–5 cobs
- Cooking oil, about 3–4 oz. for pan frying
- 50 grams foie gras fat
- 10 grams corn juice, reduced
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup liquid nitrogen
For Vanilla Gel and Puffed Wild Rice
- 350 grams whole milk
- 35 grams sugar
- 4 grams agar
- 1 whole Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 100 grams wild rice
- Cooking oil
- 1 gram dried porcini mushroom
For Apple Puree and Chocolate Branches
- 4 farm fresh apples
- 5 ounces olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Sugar, to taste
- 50 grams simple syrup
- 150 grams dark chocolate
- Micro chamomile, for garnish
- Micro shiso, for garnish
How to Make It
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For Corn Silk Nest
- Fry the corn silk in a pan with cooking oil at 300°F until golden brown. Form a nest and leave it in dehydrator for 24 hours. For Vanilla Gel
- In a pot, whisk together all ingredients, including the vanilla bean shell. Bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. In order to activate the agar milk, mixture will need to boil for approximately 4 minutes. Strain and set liquid in a metal container in the cooler. Mixture will take a few hours to set, but should be firm to the touch. In a blender with a 2-ounce ladle, work the vanilla mix until it is fully blended and will spin without assistance in the blender. Season with a little bit of salt. Strain through a sieve. For Apple Puree
- Quarter and de-seed all four apples, leaving skin on. Toss in olive oil, salt, and sugar; roast them in a pan on the stove over medium heat until extremely soft and slightly brown on the skin. Peel will easily separate from the meat when ready. Remove the peel of the apple; purée the meat of the apple with simple syrup and season with salt and sugar to taste. Pass through a fine sieve. For Chocolate Branches
- Melt and temper the chocolate. Put it in piping bag and form branches by piping the chocolate in very cold water. Remove from water and set aside. For Puffed Wild Rice
- Fry rice in 375°F cooking oil until puffed. Remove rice from oil and allow to cool. In coffee grinder, grind the porcini to a fine powder. Mix with rice after it is cooled. For Foie Gras Pearls
- In a bowl, blend all ingredients (except nitrogen) and mix until the components emulsify. Put mixture in plastic squeeze bottle and, drop by drop, squeeze into bowl of nitrogen to form pearls. Remove pearls from nitrogen and place in corn silk nest on plate. To Complete
- Drizzle Vanilla Gel across plate; then lay Puffed Wild Rice, Chocolate Branches, and Apple Purée on top. Place Corn Silk Nest and spoon Foie Gras Pearls into the nest. Garnish with micro chamomile and micro shiso.
