Classic Parfait de Foie Gras

At first sight, this recipe will seem absolutely impossible, but I have taught it to as many nonprofessional as professional cooks who have had great success with it. Many thanks to Patricia Wells for indicating a very correct and usable range of initial water temperatures in Simply French and to Gary Danko for using microwave quality plastic wrap instead of the stiff parchment paper.

If you cook professionally and serve hot sautéed foie gras, use the large l