Seared Scallops and Foie Gras

This year's contribution to our annual Valentine's Day meal is by far the fanciest, most decadent, and most gorgeous addition to the recipe family. Previous years brought us the good ol' surf n turf and the unique duck pizza. This year I copied a recipe from Top Chef, pretty much the only reality show I can stomach. For those of you who have not tried foie gras, it is fatty duck liver that melts in your mouth in buttery savory sweet amazingness. It's so decadent that you can't eat very much at once, which is good because it's freakin expensive. $28 at Wegman's for ~5 oz.

There are several components to this dish: a french toast-like bread called pain perdu, apple preserves, spiced pecans, maple foam, and of course the scallops and foie gras. You can make the preserves and pecans ahead of time, but the rest needs to come together simultaneously so unless you are a Top Chef it would be good to have a sous chef slash willing husband available.
I don't have any fancy equipment to make the maple foam, so I used my immersion blender and scooped the foam off the top, immediately before serving so it would hold. It's not as thick as a foam you'd see in a Colicchio restaurant, but it tastes the same.
We meant to have this as an appetizer (2 each), with a seared duck breast salad as an entree, but we were too full to make the duck. Full disclosure: we also had a pre-appetizer of cheese.
I halved the recipe for the apple preserves (already halved below), but you could probably also 1/2 the pecan and foam recipes as well. We have leftover pecans which is actually not a bad thing, but did throw out a lot of foam.

Seared Scallops and Foie Gras
from Top Chef season 5
serves 2-4 as an appetizer

4 jumbo sea scallops, cleaned and patted dry
4 2-oz pieces foie gras, trimmed and cleaned (I only had 5 oz total and it was plenty)
salt and pepper

Pain Perdu
4 slices stale french bread
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp toasted and ground cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp butter

Apple Preserves
1 apple, diced small
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 star anise
2 whole black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick

Spiced Pecans
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp olive oil

Maple Syrup Foam
1 cup cream
1/2 cup foie gras scraps (I used the trimmings after making my foie gras pieces squares)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 star anise
salt and pepper to taste

For the preserves (can be made ahead, just reheat before serving):
Combine all ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until liquid is almost gone. Remove spices and keep warm.

For the pecans (can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container):
Combine sugar, spices, and olive oil in a bowl. Add pecans and toss to coat. Toast at 350° for about 10 minutes (I used the toaster oven for about 4 minutes). Set aside.

For the foam:
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with s+p, remove the anise and set aside.

For the bread:
Combine the eggs, milk, and spices in a bowl. Soak the bread for 10 minutes. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and fry the bread until golden, 3-4 minutes on each side.

For the scallops and foie gras:
Season the scallops and foie gras with salt and pepper. Just before you're ready to serve, heat a tbsp or 2 of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When oil is shimmering but not smoking, sear the scallops for about 1 minute on each side. When you turn the scallops the first time, add the foie gras to the pan (you could also wait and cook them after but my pan was big enough). Sear for 30 seconds on each side.

To plate:
When you're ready to plate, first make the foam by blending the cream/syrup with an immersion blender until a layer of foam appears on top.
Place a piece of bread on each plate (or 2 pieces if just 2 people), then a scallop, then a foie gras balanced on top. Garnish with the preserves, pecans, and about 2 tbsp of the maple foam on each. I added a little bit of frisee lettuce for color but that's optional.
Look how pretty!!!