Quenelles de Brochet à la Lyonnaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •7-cup or larger food processor
• •Sturdy fine-mesh tamis or sieve
• •Flexible bowl scraper
• •Two deep tablespoons
• •5-quart wide pot
• •12-inch wide sauté pan
• •Slotted spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the working parts

   Chill the food processor bowl, blade, sieve, and two plates for 15 minutes. Run your fingertips through the pike and remove every bone you find, then pat the flesh dry. Trim every scrap of membrane from the kidney fat and dice the marrow. Spread the pike and combined fats on separate cold plates and chill them for about 20 minutes, until firm at the edges but not frozen solid. Cold protects the forcemeat's emulsion; warmth turns the fat greasy before the fish can hold it.

2. 2

   Process fish and fats

   Pulse the pike by itself until it becomes a fine, tacky paste, scraping down the bowl often, then transfer it to one chilled plate. Process the kidney fat and marrow separately until finely ground and smooth, and transfer them to the second plate. If the fat smears into a shiny film around the bowl, stop and chill everything for 10 minutes before continuing. A cold paste can still be brought together; a warm, oily one cannot hold its structure.

3. 3

   Work in the panada

   Put the chilled C. Frangipan Panada (No. 192) into the processor and pulse until smooth. Add the egg whites in four small additions, processing until each disappears completely before adding the next. This gradual incorporation belongs to the source method and must stay: it strengthens the panada without flooding it, leaving a smooth paste rather than a loose batter.

4. 4

   Sieve and test

   Return the pike paste, kidney fat, and marrow to the processor. Work them with the panada mixture just until perfectly homogeneous, stopping to scrape and feel the bowl so it never becomes warm. Push the forcemeat through the chilled fine sieve with a flexible scraper, then work the resulting purée firmly with a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes until glossy and smooth. Poach a teaspoonful in lightly salted water and taste it; add only a pinch of the measured salt or white pepper if needed. If the forcemeat won't hold an oval, cover and chill it for 15 minutes. Don't add flour. The original ratio is its structure.

5. 5

   Build the fish sauce

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this roux for 2 minutes without letting it color. Whisk in 2 cups of the fumet little by little, smoothing each addition before the next, then hold the sauce at a bare simmer for 8 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 3 minutes more, until the sauce lightly coats a spoon, then season with white pepper and a little of the remaining salt. Reserve the final ¼ cup of fumet. If the sauce is lumpy, strain it; if it tightens too far, loosen it with the reserved fumet.

6. 6

   Shape the quenelles

   Reserve ½ cup of the poaching water while it is still cold. Put the remaining water and 4 teaspoons of the salt into a wide pot and heat it to 180°F (82°C). Dip two deep tablespoons into the hot water. Scoop up a generous portion of forcemeat with one spoon, pass it back and forth between the spoons to make a smooth oval about 4 inches long, and slip it gently into the water. Shape eight quenelles in all, dipping the spoons again whenever the paste begins to cling. Their first shapes needn't be military. Smooth, closed surfaces matter more than perfect symmetry.

7. 7

   Poach at a tremble

   Hold the water between 175°F and 185°F (79°C and 85°C), with movement below the surface but no rolling bubbles. Poach the quenelles for 10 to 12 minutes, turning them once, until they rise, swell, feel lightly springy, and reach 145°F (63°C) at the center. If the water breaks into a boil and their surfaces begin to roughen, pull the pot from the heat and pour the reserved cold water down the side. Ça se rattrape. Return the pot only when the water is quiet again; boiling makes the pike firm before the quenelles can expand.

8. 8

   Swell in sauce

   Lift the poached quenelles out with a slotted spoon, drain them for a minute, and settle them directly into the warm fish sauce. Hold the sauce at the barest simmer for 10 minutes, spooning it over the quenelles and turning them once so they swell evenly. Add the truffle slices during the final 2 minutes, if using. If the sauce grows too thick around them, add reserved fumet a tablespoon at a time. Keep it gentle. A hard boil tightens the quenelles and can separate the cream.

9. 9

   Finish and serve

   Transfer the swollen quenelles to a warmed shallow serving dish. Take the sauce off the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter, a piece at a time, until it gleams and falls from the spoon in a broad ribbon. If the finish looks oily, whisk in a tablespoon of cool fumet or water away from the heat until it comes together again. Pour the sauce generously over the quenelles and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •C. Frangipan Panada (No. 192) is the savory bound panada cited by the source, not almond frangipane. Prepare that finished component separately and chill it thoroughly before weighing it into the forcemeat.
• •Pike is magnificent but treacherously bony. Ask the fishmonger for skinned, boneless flesh, then check it again with your fingers at home. Another firm white fish can follow this method, but it won't be quenelles de brochet.
• •Ask a butcher for clean beef kidney fat and marrow from split marrow bones. Ordinary beef trimmings aren't equivalent: kidney fat gives the forcemeat its firm body, while marrow brings a softer richness. Keep both very cold.
• •The food processor honestly replaces the mortar; the sieving does not disappear. Pressing the forcemeat through a tamis removes connective tissue and any bone fragment that escaped inspection, and it gives the quenelles their characteristic silk.
• •Serve with a dry white from the nearby Mâconnais or a firm Savoie white. The sauce is rich, so the wine should have freshness and enough body to stand beside it.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the C. Frangipan Panada (No. 192) up to one day ahead and keep it covered in the cold. Weigh it only after chilling, since its exact weight preserves the source ratio.
• •The forcemeat can be processed, sieved, and held for up to 6 hours with parchment or reusable wrap pressed directly against its surface. Keep it thoroughly cold and shape the quenelles shortly before poaching.
• •The quenelles may be poached earlier on the day of serving, cooled promptly in a single layer, covered, and chilled. Give them the full 10-minute swelling in the sauce just before serving.
• •The roux and fumet base can be made several hours ahead. Reheat it gently, add the cream, and finish the sauce with cold butter only at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)