PDF Foie Gras Gnocchi Poutine
Monforte Dairy Cheese Curds and Goat Cream
Upper Canada Cheese Company Guernsey Ricotta & Potato Gnocchi
Cabernet Franc Lentil Jus
When Chef Ryan Crawford cooks, it’s from farms and purveyors as close to the back door of his restaurant as possible. Upper Canada cheese, made with Guernsey milk, makes my favourite surfaced-ripened Brie-style cheese in the country ~ Comfort Cream. One of their newest products is ricotta…it hardly gets any better. He’s lucky to live in wine country because he has access to not only Cabernet Franc wine but also a vinegar fermented from the same grape.
Foie Gras
- 4 – 2 oz slices foie gras, scored
- 1 cup Monforte cheese curds
- 1 tsp piment d’Espellette
- 2 tsps minced sage
- ½ tsp salt
- Fried sage leaves, for garnish
Goat Cheese Cream
- 100 g goat cheese
- 100 mL 35% cream
- Salt & Chinese 5 spice powder, to taste
Mix cream and cheese together. Season to taste with 5 spice and salt.
Lentils
- 1 cup dried beluga lentils
- ½ onion
- 1 small carrot
- 2 clove garlic
- ¼ bunch thyme
Combine lentils, onion, carrot, 2 cloves garlic and thyme in a non reactive pot. Cover with water. Bring to simmer. Cook lentils until just tender. Don’t overcook as lentils will go too soft very quickly. Strain and chill in refrigerator.
Cabernet Franc Jus
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup diced button mushrooms
- ½ cup diced red onion
- ½ cup diced carrots
- 4 sprigs parsley
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 cup cabernet franc vinegar or other high quality, red wine vinegar
- 1 cup cabernet franc wine
- 1 litre reduced veal jus
Caramelize mushrooms, onions, and carrots with butter. Don’t burn. Add honey. Caramelize quickly. Add thyme, parsley, peppercorns and bay leaf. Deglaze with vinegar and simmer until vinegar is almost entirely evaporated. Repeat with wine.
Add hot stock to vegetables. Simmer until sauce is thickened and jammy – 45 minutes. Strain and reserve, adjust seasoning as necessary. Add cooked lentils to half of finished jus. (2 separate sauces)
Gnocchi
- Salt
- 3 russet potatoes (1.5lb)
- 3 egg yolks, whisked
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 500 grams ricotta
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- Salt
- White pepper
- ½ bunch sage chopped
Bake potatoes in their jackets until very tender. Peel and pass through a potato ricer.
Add ricotta, egg, nutmeg, sage, and salt. Mix well to combine.
In a large bowl make a well in the flour; add potato mixture using a pastry scraper to cut flour into potatoes. Continue turning and cutting dough until it comes together and is soft, supple, and slightly elastic.
Cut into four equal parts and roll each into a ¾“ log. Cut logs into ½” pieces.
Flour the tines of a dinner fork, tapping off excess. Hold a dough piece between your thumb and forefinger, grasping at opposite corners and positioning it so a corner points towards you, diamond like. Starting at the base of the fork tines, roll the dough over the top of the fork tines, changing from pinching with your thumb to pushing gently with your thumb. Let the gnocchi fall from the fork. The gnocchi should have a ridged side from the tines and a dimple from your thumb. Flour the fork between each gnocchi.
Transfer gnocchi to a floured sheet pan and freeze.
To cook, simply boil frozen gnocchi for about 5 minutes in a large pot of salted water until they have puffed and float. Toss with oil and allow to cool.
Deep fry at 375°F until crispy on outside.
To Complete:
Pan sear foie gras. Season. Toss deep fried gnocchi with curds, salt, piment, chopped sage.
Ladle cabernet franc lentil jus on bottom of each plate. Place gnocchi in centre of each place.
Drizzle warm goat cream and cabernet franc jus (no lentils) over gnocchi.
Top with seared foie gras and crispy sage.
Executive Chef/Sommelier Ryan Crawford
Formerly of The Stone Road Grille, Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON
While he was at the Stone Road Grille, Chef Crawford has raised the bar for the Niagara Region by taking farm to table cuisine one step further. Chef Ryan Crawford won first place this year in Toronto’s Groundhog Invitational Charcuterie competition, for his innovative and creative approach to pork! He has been a guest chef on Toronto’s premier food network, Foodies, and is a current contender for Iron Chef Niagara. He has been acclaimed in Food and Drink, Vines Magazine, Bon Appetite, and Wine Spectator. He has apprenticed under Michael Stadtlander, Traci Des-Jardins, Hiro Sone, and Thomas Keller. Chef Ryan Crawford’s reputation has a global reach with repeat clientele from Europe, China, Japan, the United States, and Canada, putting The Stone Road Grille as one of Niagara’s most sought after food experiences.
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