Smoked foie gras with rhubarb and cinnamon puree and pommes allumettes

Ingredients

• 4 stalks rhubarb, cut into ¼-inch dice, but with trimmings reserved
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 0.33 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 4 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
• 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, 5 oz each, cut into matchsticks (allumettes) with a cross-section of ¼-inch square
• 4 slices foie gras, 3 oz each
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1. To smoke the foie gras in this recipe you will need a sturdy pan with a lid and an insert like a small wire cooling rack. T he pan heats the smoking sawdust while the insert supports the foie gras above the sawdust as it smoulders.
2. HEAT a medium saute pan on medium heat. Add rhubarb trimmings, cinnamon stick, sugar and water and cook until rhubarb breaks down, about 10 minutes. Drain the liquid into a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and then reduce for 5 to 6 minutes on medium heat until large bubbles appear. Add diced rhubarb and allow to cool, then pour this mixture through a strainer to separate the syrup from the rhubarb dice. Puree the trimmings in a blender and pass through a fine sieve.
3. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or a deep pot to 250°F. Add potato allumettes and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove them from the oil and allow them to drain on paper towels.
4. Heat the pan you are using to smoke the foie gras on high heat until it is extremely hot. Add one handful of dry smoking sawdust into the pan, add the grill or insert, place the foie gras on the grill, cover and smoke for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and season the foie gras with salt and balsamic vinegar.