A Christmas Recipe - Faux (Foie) Gras

Some months ago I found this recipe on a blog I love (though it is not a 100 % plant based one). It is Living the Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz who is an American (cook) in Paris. Until now I have made the paté twice and varied the original recipe slightly. The first time, two weeks ago, I cooked it for my husband and me. As it was so good, so tasty, so paté, we decided to offer it the next guests to come as primer. Last Saturday beloved friends were with us (they are vegetarians) and they were served the faux foie gras. One of them was astonished as, when eating, she thought it was real foie gras!

• Ingredients (serve 6 – 8 as primer)

• 1 cup cooked green lentils
• 12 medium sized champignons
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp margarine (must be organic!)
• 1 small blue onion, peeled and diced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 cup toasted walnuts and/or pecan nuts
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Cognac
• 2 – 3 tsp dried thyme
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

Cook the lentils. Clean the mushrooms, slice them. Heat oil and margarine in a pan. Add onions and garlic and cook 1 – 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Salt, pepper.

Put cooked lentils, nuts, lemon juice, thyme, Cognac, cayenne and the mushroom mixture into a bowl and mix with a hand blender. Taste and add salt, pepper or lemon juice if it needs balancing. Mix until you get a homogene cream or leave some pieces unmixed to get a kind of country style paté.

Extra tip: some green pepper corns or pistaches make a nice and colorful effect.

Press the cream firmly into a bowl and refrigerate for some hours. I did it overnight. Serve with best margarine and bread. We had once a rye sourdough bread (s. photo above), the other time self made crackers.

If you have time enough prepare this bread. It is worth to do, as it tastes wonderful and it is almost starch free. That means – it is perfect combining it with the paté, which is rich in plant proteins. And – please, don´t laugh, it is easy to digest, something important in times when one is taking one three or four course menu after the other.