Seared Duck Foie Gras
Foie gras, as vaunted as is its reputation, is very easy to cook. If you can fry bacon you can cook foie gras. (In fact, the bacon might be harder, because foie gras doesn't curl up much, if at all.) The process begins with the purchase of top-quality foie gras, the liver of an overfed, very fat duck. A whole fresh foie gras weighs around a pound, but you are unlikely to find a whole one. About an ounce per person is fine, but if it's a big occasion you can serve more. There is, however, an upper limit as to how much foie gras a person can eat before the richness sinks your needle (as we say in radio).
Foie gras needs almost no additives. Just sprinkle it with a little salt (this is one of those rare times when I'd say use sea salt or kosher salt, but if you don't have it, don't make a special trip). Then put it into a pan on medium heat and sear both sides. It should be reddish in the center, but warm. Eat. No need for butter or oil in the pan; the liver has plenty of fat already.
If you want to get fancy, after the foie gras is seared, remove it and add some tawny port (or any other kind of port) to the pan to deglaze until thickened into a sauce. And that's really all it needs. This is one of the few dishes in my repertoire in which I use no pepper of any kind.
