Message: | Monique;
I am so with you -- specifically requested, my Christmas present last year from my boyfriend was the coffee table-style cookbook "Foie Gras, A Passion" by Michael A. Ginor and a full lobe of AA foie gras. We had purchased 3 lobes three years ago for a dinner party I gave. Back then, it cost about $33 a lobe. This year, it was almost $80 for a single! Without going on too long on this topic, I've cooked it several times and am happy to offer cooking recommendations privately (since I don't think this list is much into recipes).
I don't think you should feel remotely guilty. It is, after all, part of the Holy Trinity of French Haute Cuisine (rounding out with Caviar and Truffles, of course).
I, too, had foie gras at Joe's in Venice -- last Thanksgiving's dinner started with a demitasse of pumpkin soup that had foie gras cubes floating in it. Absolutely heavenly!
I have two "inexpensive" recommendation: the Foie Gras Terrine available at Bristol Farms is truffled and is pretty darn fabulous with a nice Sauterne. The other is on the lunch menu of The Depot in Torrance -- they have a type of club sandwich: a shrimp cake, apple-smoked bacon, and a slice of foie gras all served a tad too high on sourdough rounds.
Lastly, there is a restaurant I went to for a Valentine's Wine-Tasters' dinner called Frenchy's in Long Beach. I have been dying to go back because one of their appetizers is "homemade fresh foie gras and duck breast marble, port wine/orange sauce." (Yeah, I tend to keep menus lying around as well...)
Its true -- I'm obsessed with foie gras.
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