Foie Gras with Toasted Hazelnuts

Bring the foie gras up to room temperature. Carefully remove all the veins while keeping the lobes as intact as possible. Place the foie gras in a bowl of milk overnight to extract as much blood as possible.

On day , pat the foie gras dry. Mix all the dry spices and season the lobe. Add the Madeira and let it sit for at least 6 hours.

Remove the foie gras, and in a clean kitchen towel, torque the lobe into a cylinder.

Bring 1 bottle of dessert wine to a simmer with enough water to fit the foie gras. Place the foie gras in the pot and turn it off. Set a timer for 90 seconds. Remove the foie gras to an ice bath and let sit until chilled.

Once the foie gras is chilled, torque the cylinder as tightly as possible, and hang it in the refrigerator overnight.

On day 3, for the pickled grapes and apples, bring the vinegar and water to a boil and pour over the apples and grapes. Reserve.

For the hazelnuts, in a sauté pan, lightly toast the butter and nuts until they’re light golden-brown. When the nuts are cool, chop roughly and reserve.

For the gingerbread, preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.

In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and then the molasses.

In another bowl, blend all the dry ingredients, and then blend the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. Stir in hot water and pour it all into a pan.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

When cool, cut the gingerbread into circles with a 2-inch biscuit/cookie cutter.

For the white balsamic caviar, in a saucepan, bring the ingredients to a boil while stirring constantly. Pour it all into a bowl and let it set. When cool, blend it until smooth in a blender.

Pour the blended caviar into a fine-tipped squirt bottle, and drip it into a bowl of cold oil. Drain the oil off and reserve the caviar.

For the apple sauce, sauté the apples and butter until lightly browned. Add the sugar and deglaze with wine. Purée until smooth.

To serve, unwrap the foie gras from the towel. Place it on a cutting board and, with a hot knife, slice the foie gras into even portions.

Gently warm the gingerbread circles, and then place a piece of foie gras on each circle.

Place the apple purée in a piping bag and pipe it onto the plates. Top with the gingerbread and foie gras. Spoon around the balsamic caviar and pickled apples and grapes.