On Friday night we went to my favourite local, Le Petit Bourg, for dinner. Yannick, my favourite chef, was in a particularly good humour and invited me along to a cookery class on Saturday afternoon. I had a ball! It was all about foie gras - how to choose and what to look for, how much to pay for a decent piece etc. but most importantly we had a liver each to play with. Like play dough really, we softened the liver with our thumbs before finding the vein which we later removed (buy deveined if you can) and prepared our terrines. However as nothing goes to waste in Yannick's kitchen - the sign of a true chef, he tells us, is not what he creates with his ingredients, but what he does with the leftovers - food for thought you'll aagree? So with the scraps and a little more we made the ultimate in amuse bouche (nibbles) a crème brulée de Foie Gras..

Crème Brulée de Foie Gras For 50 Verrines (served as an amuse bouche) 12 egg yolks 375ml pouring cream 300ml full fat milk 375g foie gras Salt, pepper, cardamon and foie gras spices A little truffle/fig oil (optional) Serving : Chutney – Fig for example though many others would do - I have a Christmas one here. Gingerbread Duck confit ( in tiny pieces) Heat together the cream, milk and seasonings. In a blender, blend the egg yolks and foie gras. Add the milk mixture and blend. Sieve. Add a drop of truffle oil if using. In the bottom of a ‘verrine’ (small glass) place a little fig chutney, then some duck confit. Pour some of the foie gras crème brulée on top and bake in a bain marie @ 95°C for 40 minutes. Allow to cool for up to 6 hours in fridge before sprinkling with a little brown sugar. Using a chef torch ‘burn ‘ the sugar. A little sliver of gingerbread can be placed on top.