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James MacGuire's liver mousse is silky, regal, utterly timeless. This recipe is reprinted with permission from The Art of Eating Cookbook (University of California Press, 2011).

Ingredients

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream

1 cup (200 g) unsalted butter in 1-inch (2-cm) pieces, at cool room temperature

1 cup (200 g) rendered duck fat, at room temperature

1 pound (500 g) duck or chicken livers, trimmed of nervy bits before weighing

6 yolks from large eggs

3 tablespoons (50 ml) Cognac or Armagnac

1 tablespoon (20 g) salt

1/2 teaspoon (2 g)

Freshly ground white pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 325 F (165 C). Choose a 4- to 5-cup mould that’s 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) tall (the shape doesn’t matter), so the mixture will be about 2 inches (5 cm) deep and the sides will rise another inch (2 to 3 cm) or so above that, allowing for a water bath of about the same height as the mixture. To serve as a bain-marie, choose an oven pan large enough to hold the mould, and boil enough water to fill it, to be ready when the time comes.

Boil the cream and keep it hot. Purée the butter and duck fat in a food processor. Then, with the machine running, add the livers 1 or 2 at a time, followed by the egg yolks 1 at a time. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the machine again running, and taking care not to splatter and burn yourself, gradually pour in the hot cream.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl. Add the brandy, salt and pepper, and whisk thoroughly to dissolve the salt. Pour into the mould, and place it in the oven pan. Place the pan on the oven rack and pour boiling water around the mould to come just a little higher than the mousse mixture inside. Cover the bain-marie with aluminum foil, and bake approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour to an interior temperature of about 165 F (72 to 75 C). The top of the mixture should be convex but without cracks; the former liquid should now be delicately resilient. (If the mousse is baked too long, the small amount of air in it will cause it to rise like a souffle, with disastrous results.) Remove the mould from the oven.

Promptly cover the cooked mousse with plastic wrap, pressing it lightly onto the whole surface so as to eliminate air (this is simpler than the classic tactic of pouring aspic onto the cooled mousse). Cool, then refrigerate to chill completely before serving; the mousse will keep in this way for up to four days. To serve, scrape off and discard the mottled surface from the amount to be served, and with a tablespoon dipped in very hot water, form egg-shaped portions. The exposed surface of the remaining mousse will gradually turn grey; that part, too, is best scraped off just before serving. Makes about 3 pounds (1.5 kg), enough to serve 20 as a first course.

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