It has taken some time to bring our braised gizzards from an ingredient in our pantry to the subject of a dish. Since we were working with apples in our cooking class, we had a few staples to support the gizzards. We also had a bit of truffle on hand and figured it certainly would not hurt the dish. We sautéed the braised gizzards in butter and then added maple vinegar-infused apples. As the base and also an accent for the gizzards, we took slices of truffle and compressed them on rounds of apple, which were seasoned with a few grains of salt, a drop or two of truffle oil, and a misting of Meyer lemon juice. What is exciting about the truffle-apple compression is the flavors unite seamlessly. Also, because the truffles are supported by a backing of apple, they are easily cut into squares which we can arrange in the dish. The warm sabayon on top of the gizzards and apples is made with apple juice thickened with Methocel F50 (1%) and a bit of xanthan gum (0.15%). Since we do not have a steady supply of microgreens on hand, we have begun looking at full-sized herbs and how we can cut them to spread their flavor throughout a dish. Today, we cut parsley leaves into small squares, spreading the bright, cleansing flavor of the herb throughout the dish. The finished dish is herbaceous, earthy from the truffles, meaty from the tender yet chewy gizzards, crunchy from the apples, with the sabayon adding an almost creamy and still incredibly light element to round things out. It is a bright, satisfying dish for this rainy winter’s afternoon.
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