Marbré de Pommes du Limousin et Foie Gras

Recipe for 4 created by Charlou Reynal from the book "La Pomme du Limousin"
4 Limousin apples - 180g of duck or goose foie gras (mi-cuit or block) - 25cl of sweet white wine (eg Sauternes, Bergerac, Jurançon) - 4 sheets of gelatine - the juice of a quarter untreated lemon – salt and ground pepper.
Place the mi-cuit foie gras in a freezer for 30 minutes to make it easier to slice. Gently heat the wine in an enamel or stainless steel saucepan, add the salt and pepper, then dissolve the gelatine sheets (which you have pre-soaked in cold water for one minute) in the wine and add the lemon. Peel, de-seed and cut the Limousin apples into thin slices and add to the saucepan. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat. Cover and let the flavours infuse for half an hour.
Cover the base of a dish with a layer of Limousin apples and the jelly, followed by the slices of foie gras. Continue adding these layers, finishing with a topping of apples and jelly. Tap down with a fork. Chill overnight in the fridge. Serve with a walnut oil and chopped Périgord walnut vinaigrette.
 

Tête de Veau (Boiled calf ’s head)

Recipe created by Raymond Fraysse – from “Les Gravades” in Ussel
Preparation time: 30 min – Cooking time: 2 to 3hr –1 calf’s head - carrots, leeks, turnips, 1 onion studded with cloves, thyme, bay leaf. For the sauce: oil, vinegar, mustard, herbs, Saint-Jean shallots, parsley, 2 hard-boiled eggs.
Place the calf’s head in the middle of a large cloth. Tie the corners of the cloth over the head, then place in a large cooking pot. Cover with cold water, add salt and pepper, followed by the carrots, leeks, turnips, 1 onion, thyme and bay leaf, then place over a direct heat. Remove the vegetables once they are cooked. Leave the calf’s head to cook in the vegetable-flavoured stock for 2 to 3 hours.
Once the head is cooked, serve it piping hot, surrounded by the vegetables which have been reheated in the stock. Don’t forget to add the parsley in the nostrils in readiness for the table. Make a basic vinaigrette, to which you should add mustard, herbs and parsley. Whisk it up well, then add the hard-boiled eggs which have been mashed with a fork. This dish is often served on special occasions and public holidays.
 

The secrets of Clafoutis

200g flour - 5 eggs - 50g melted butter - 70g of caster sugar - 1 pinch of salt - 1/2l of milk – 1lb cherries
In order to make a good clafoutis, mix all the ingredients together to create a consistent pancake-like batter. Butter and flour a pie dish. Add the black, non-stoned cherries to the dish then cover with the rum-flavoured batter. Glaze with a knob of butter. Bake for 30 min in a medium oven. Once you’ve taken the clafoutis out of the oven, sprinkle with caster sugar. Serve warm...and enjoy! In winter you can replace cherries with apples or pears.

 

Douillons aux Pommes du Limousin (Limousin Apples and Foie Gras in Puff Pastry)

Recipe (serves 4) by Charlou Reynal from the book "La Pomme du Limousin"
Ingredients: 4 Limousin apples - 250g duck or goose foie gras (semi-cooked) - 250g pure butter puff pastry - 1 whole egg beaten with 3cl of water – salt and ground white pepper.
Peel and deseed the apples. Make the base straight and stable, then cut a "top hat" of about a quarter of the height of the apple preserving the stalk. Hollow out some of the apple with a vegetable scoop. Season the inside of the apple with salt and pepper. Dice the foie gras into medium-sized pieces, place inside the apple, then place the "top hat" back on. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark7/8 or 425-450°F. On a lightly floured kitchen surface, roll out the puff pastry into four squares measuring 18cm (7in) square. Brush the pastry with egg, then place the apple in the centre of the pastry square. Pull up the pastry corners around the apple and press the corners firmly together with your fingers. Brush the pastry with egg and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

 

Magret de canard, à la Moutarde Violette du Pays de Brive (Duck Breast with Pays de Brive Violet Mustard)

A truly authentic Brive-la-Gaillarde recipe (serves 4)
(Extract from the collection of Coujou (from Brive) recipes published by the Brive-la-Gaillarde and area tourist office)
Ingredients: 2 duck breasts - 4 tablespoons of Moutarde Violette de Brive - 1 tablespoon of olive oil - 30cl chicken stock - salt and pepper.
In a flat dish prepare a marinade of olive oil, violet mustard, salt and pepper. Marinate the duck breasts in the fridge for 2 hours, turning them from time to time. Remove them from the marinade and cook in a pan for five minutes skin side down, then 3 minutes skin side up. Remove from the heat and keep hot. Remove any excess fat from the pan without washing it, add the marinade sauce and stock. Stir the juices in the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and reduce the sauce on a high heat for 5 minutes. Slice the breasts, then place on a warmed plate and cover with the sauce.

 

Les bouligous (Fruit crêpes)

Recipe (serves 2) taken from the book "Bouligou et Farcidure - Le cahier d'une gourmande en Limousin" published by Maïade Editions and written by Régine Rossi Lagorce with the collaboration of Marie-France Houdart
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of wheat flour - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1 egg - 2 tablespoons of milk - 1 pear, apricot, peach or 1 apple.
Place the flour in a salad bowl and stir with a fork (this will remove any lumps in the flour). Add the salt and sugar. Continue stirring. Add the egg to the mix and stir in. Add more salt and sugar and continue to stir. Make sure the batter does not separate by continuing to stir the mix along the sides of the bowl. Leave to stand. While left standing, peel the fruit and grate it into large shavings. Add to the mix and stir in. Heat a frying pan. Just before you cook the bouligous add a small knob of butter to the pan. Pour in the mix either as a large pancake, or as several smaller pancakes, using a soup spoon to help you shape them. Once one side is cooked, flip over and cook the other side. Eat hot or cold, topped with sugar, jam or honey.