Foie gras

Every December I prepare foie gras for the holidays. One batch is made the traditional way, nature or unspiced, another is flavored with spices or liquor. Flavourings vary from year to year, as there is a lively exchange of recipes & cooking methods among those of us passionate about homemade foie gras. Here in France we debate every stage, beginning on the choice of the foie gras but this isn't the place to go into the details (there's probably a blog dedicated to the subject). Just a few salient points:
-I prefer goose, but the recipes apply also to duck
-No frozen foie gras, buy fresh
-Pre-cleaned products are available, I've tested them, they're ok but deveining is simple
-Although it is essentiel to the taste to get rid of the veins, it is also important that the lobes remain as intact as possible (follow the directions below)
-When making a flavored foie gras, marinate it AFTER cleaning, not before

Cleaning the foie gras:
Choose a thin bladed, very sharp knife.
Take the foie gras to be cleaned out of the fridge, leave the rest, as it's less likely to fall apart while cleaning if it is chilled.
Gently pry apart the main lobes to localize the major vessels. DO NOT SEVER THEM, but follow them to the end with the knife blade.
Continue until all the vessels have been located. Use your fingers as much as the knife: sometimes a little tug is more effective than a slice.
Put aside any pieces that may detach themselves, you can still press them into the dish.

Cooking:
There are two methods, both work well. Traditional oven at bain mairie or microwave. The first requires a terrine, which should be ceramic or pyrex. The latter comes out best in a covered pyrex but you can use Tupperware (without the lid). In either case, the dish should be at least the length of the lobes and deep.

To make it simple for 1st timers, the recipe that follows gives the microwave instructions for cooking.
If doing bain-maire, preheat oven to hot, then turn down to medium when putting in FG. Use the same material dish for the water (i.e. pyrex for the water dish, pyrex for the FG). The bainmaire container should be able to hold enough water to come up to over 1/2 the depth of the FG dish. Fill with warm water, place the FG dish inside, place in oven. Cooking time will be 2-3 hours.

TIP: For best results, make FG 8 days prior to eating. Must remain at least 3 days in fridge.
Can be frozen.
DO NOT throw away the fat! IT's wonderful for sauted potatoes, mushrooms, scrambled eggs.....

FOIE GRAS NATURE
1lb of FG (lobes are usually between 500-600g)
2 tsps salt (preferably sel de Geurande or Fleur de sel)
1 tsp pepper (any kind, even peppers mixed with spices)

Season the cleaned FG. Press into dish.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
Let cool, then place in fridge.

FOIE GRAS AUX LIQUER
Follow above directions.
Add several tbps of cognac, port, sauterne.....
Marinate at least 12 hours or overnight in fridge.
Drain liquid before cooking.

FOIE GRAS AUX EPICES
Follow above directions.
The classic recipe is 5 épices, but I've added some ground coriandre or a pinch of nutmeg