Tête de Veau à la Financière

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8-quart (7.5 L) stockpot
• •Parchment paper for cartouches
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Food processor
• •Medium heavy saucepan
• •12-inch (30 cm) sauté pan
• •Two teaspoons for shaping quenelles
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •2-quart (1.9 L) timbale or deep serving dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the head

   Put the tied calf's head and tongue in a large stockpot, cover generously with fresh cold water, and bring to a boil. Blanch for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse the offal and pot thoroughly, rubbing away any grey scum. This first blanching is not the blanc; it clears blood and impurities so the true poaching liquid stays clean. Meanwhile, place the brain in a bowl of cold water with ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) of the vinegar and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Poach beneath the blanc

   Whisk the ½ cup (120 ml / 60 g) flour with about 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) of the measured cold water until perfectly smooth, then add the remaining measured water, the remaining ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) vinegar, salt, carrots, onion, juice and shells of the lemon, bouquet garni, and peppercorns. Return the head and tongue to the pot and bring the blanc slowly to the barest simmer. Press a parchment cartouche directly against the liquid, cover the pot partially, and cook for 2½ to 3 hours, turning the head once, until a skewer passes through the skin and underlying tissue without resistance. Never let the pot gallop. If it boils hard, add a cup of cold water, lower the heat, and reset the cartouche; ça se rattrape. Replace evaporation with hot water so the head remains fully covered.

   Air darkens the exposed skin. Keep the cartouche wet and touching the liquid, and spoon blanc over any portion that tries to rise.
3. 3

   Prepare delicate offal

   While the head cooks, soak the sweetbreads in several changes of cold water for 30 minutes. Blanch them in fresh gently simmering water for 5 minutes, cool them in cold water, and pull away the coarse membrane without tearing the lobes. Set them between two plates with a small pan on top and press for 30 minutes, then cut into ¾-inch (2 cm) pieces. Drain the brain, ease away its surface membrane and any visible blood vessels with your fingertips, and keep it refrigerated until its poach.

4. 4

   Make the quenelles

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade if the kitchen is warm. Process the cold chicken breast with the egg white, salt, nutmeg, and a pinch of white pepper until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the cold cream in three additions, pulsing only until the farce becomes glossy and cohesive. Fry or poach a teaspoonful and taste it for seasoning. If the mixture becomes loose or greasy, stop and set the bowl over ice for 15 minutes before pulsing it briefly again. Cold is the structure here.

5. 5

   Poach the quenelles

   Bring a wide pan of salted water to a bare tremble. Using two wet teaspoons, shape the chicken farce into 12 small oval quenelles and lower them into the water as you work. Poach without boiling for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until gently springy and cooked to 165°F (74°C) at the centre. Lift them into a shallow dish and moisten with a little poaching water. If the first quenelle feathers at the edges, chill the farce for another 10 minutes before shaping the rest.

6. 6

   Build the financière sauce

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a medium saucepan, stir in the 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g) flour, and cook this roux brun, a brown roux, over medium-low heat until it smells nutty and reaches the colour of a hazelnut. Whisk in the veal stock a little at a time, keeping each addition smooth before adding the next. Simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes, skimming the surface, until the sauce naps the back of a spoon. Add the Madeira and reserved truffle liquor, then simmer for another 6 to 8 minutes. If the sauce is thin, reduce it; if too tight, loosen it with a spoonful of stock or water. If the roux has left lumps, strain the sauce and whisk it again. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Cook the garnish

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a wide sauté pan. Brown the pressed sweetbread pieces over medium heat, turning until golden on every face, then add the mushrooms and cook until their moisture evaporates and their edges colour. Season lightly. Transfer both to the financière sauce, add the rinsed cockscombs and cock's kidneys, and hold everything at a bare simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until the sweetbreads reach 160°F (71°C). Add the quenelles and most of the truffle slices for the final 3 minutes. These garnishes are delicate now, so turn them with a spoon rather than stirring vigorously.

8. 8

   Poach the brain

   When the head is tender, strain 4 cups (960 ml / 960 g) of its blanc through a fine sieve into a small saucepan. Thin it with a little water if it has become pasty, then bring it to a bare simmer. Lower in the brain, cover its surface with a small parchment cartouche, and poach gently for 12 to 15 minutes, until opaque, lightly firm, and 160°F (71°C) at the centre. Lift it with a slotted spoon, rest it for 5 minutes, and cut it into small slices. If a lobe cracks, don't discard it. Keep the pieces together and place them on top at assembly rather than stirring them through the sauce.

9. 9

   Square the head

   Lift out the tongue while warm and peel away its coarse outer skin, trimming the root before cutting several small, neat slices. Untie the calf's head and lay it skin-side down. Following the source entry, shave away the thick pillows of meat beneath it so only a thin layer, about ¼ inch (6 mm), remains attached to the skin. Reserve those trimmings for croquettes or a mustardy hash. Cut the skin and its thin meat lining into squares of 1, 2, or 3 inches (2.5, 5, or 7.5 cm), choosing the size according to the natural curves. If the pieces stiffen as they cool, dip them back into hot strained blanc for 2 minutes.

10. 10

    Fill the timbale

    Warm a deep 2-quart (1.9 L) timbale or serving dish. Arrange the hot squares of calf's head in it, skin-side visible where possible. Take the financière sauce off the heat and swirl in the final 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) cold butter until the sauce gleams, then taste for salt and white pepper. If the butter separates, whisk in a teaspoon of cold stock away from the heat. Cover the head generously with the financière garnish, then add the small slices of tongue and brain and the reserved truffle slices, spooning just enough sauce over them to make them shine. The final butter is not decoration; it gives the sauce its finish. We don't apologize for butter. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order the calf's head, tongue, brain, and sweetbreads from a proper butcher well in advance. Ask for the head cleaned, boned, rolled, and tied, but keep the tongue separate so you can peel and slice it neatly.
• •Preserved cockscombs and cock's kidneys are the honest home answer to a garnish once maintained by a whole brigade. If they cannot be sourced, don't replace them with ordinary chicken and still call the result financière. Serve the tête de veau with gribiche instead, a different canonical dish with its own clear intention.
• •Use unsalted veal stock with enough natural gelatin to wobble when cold. A prepared concentrate is acceptable if it tastes clean, but dilute it before reducing and add no salt until the finished sauce has been tasted.
• •A preserved whole black truffle in its own liquor is better than a tired fresh one and far better than truffle-flavoured oil. Slice it thinly, use its liquor in the sauce, and let the classical pantry do its work.
• •Serve a red with freshness and a little maturity, such as cru Beaujolais or a restrained red Burgundy. The sauce is rich, the offal is delicate, and a heavily oaked bottle bullies both.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for no more than 2 days. Reheat slowly below a boil; hard heat toughens the head, breaks the buttered sauce, and damages the brain.

Advance Preparation

• •The head and tongue may be poached one day ahead. Cool them in strained blanc, refrigerate them covered by the liquid, then reheat gently in the same blanc before trimming and cutting.
• •The sweetbreads may be blanched and pressed one day ahead. The quenelles can also be poached in advance, cooled in their liquid, and refrigerated separately.
• •The financière sauce can be made through the Madeira reduction one day ahead. Chill it without the finishing butter, then reheat gently and mount with cold butter only when the dish is ready to assemble.
• •Poach and slice the brain on the day of service. Its texture is too delicate to benefit from prolonged storage or repeated reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 850g)