foie gras will give, retain the imprint, and feel somewhat supple and unctuous, while an under-fattened liver will feel elastic, hard, and wet An overfattened, weakened liver feels soft and frankly oily Foie gras is at its best fresh out of the bird Apart from its use in pâtés, it is generally prepared in two ways One is to slice it fairly thick, briefly saute in a hot, dry pan until the surface is browned and the interior just warmed through, and serve it immediately The sensation of warm, firm, flavorful flesh melting away between tongue and palate is unparalleled Liver quality is especially important in this preparation, since high pan heat will release a flood of fat from an overfattened or otherwise weakened organ, and the texture is unpleasantly flabby A second preparation is to cook the liver whole, chill it, and slice and serve it cool This is more forgiving of second-quality livers, and offers its own kind of lusciousness To make a terrine, the livers are pressed gently into a container and cooked in a water bath; to prepare a torchon of foie gras, they’re wrapped in a cloth and poached in stock or in duck or goose fat Fat loss is minimized by gentle, gradual heating just to the desired doneness (from 110 to 160ºF/45–70ºC, lower temperatures giving a creamier texture), the liquid kept only a few degrees above the target temperature Cooling partly solidifies the fat, which allows the terrine or torchon to be sliced cleanly, and then contributes a melting firmness to the dish’s texture as it’s eaten Skin, Cartilage, and Bones Usually cooks don’t welcome large amounts of toughening connective tissue in meat But taken on their own, animal skin, cartilage, and bones are valuable exactly because they’re mostly connective tissue and therefore full of ... the fat, which allows the terrine or torchon to be sliced cleanly, and then contributes a melting firmness to the dish’s texture as it’s eaten Skin, Cartilage, and Bones Usually cooks don’t welcome large amounts of toughening connective tissue in meat... of toughening connective tissue in meat But taken on their own, animal skin, cartilage, and bones are valuable exactly because they’re mostly connective tissue and therefore full of ...To make a terrine, the livers are pressed gently into a container and cooked in a water bath; to prepare a torchon of foie gras, they’re wrapped in a cloth and poached in stock or in