Escalopes de Ris de Veau à la Favorite

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two flat trays or quarter-sheet pans
• •An evenly distributed 4-pound (1.8 kg) weight
• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •1½-quart (1.5 L) wide saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Oval serving platter and warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Press the sweetbreads

   Begin with the veal heart sweetbreads already prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273). Drain them, pat them very dry, and pull away any loose membrane or tough sinew without tearing the lobes. Set them between two parchment-lined trays, place about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of evenly distributed weight on top, and chill for 1½ to 2 hours. They should become firm, level, and compact rather than crushed. Cut the cold sweetbreads across the lobes into 12 escalopes about ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick, choosing the cleanest slices for the platter, then return them to the cold.

   If a lobe begins breaking as you slice, stop and chill it for another 20 minutes. Pressure gives the shape, but cold keeps it.
2. 2

   Reduce the Madeira sauce

   Reserve ¼ cup (60 ml) of the veal stock for adjustments. Bring the remaining stock to a lively simmer in a small, wide saucepan and reduce it to about 1¼ cups (300 ml). Add the Madeira and continue reducing until about 1 cup (240 ml) remains and the sauce reaches nappe, meaning it coats the back of a spoon in a thin, glossy layer. Strain it into a clean saucepan and hold it off the heat. If it becomes sticky or salty, loosen it a spoonful at a time with the reserved unsalted stock; if it remains thin, reduce it further before the truffle juice goes in. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Match foie and truffle

   Slice the preserved truffle into very thin rounds and keep them covered so their perfume stays put. Cut the cold foie gras into 12 escalopes with roughly the same footprint and thickness as the sweetbread slices. Mix the flour with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and a pinch of white pepper, but do not dredge the foie yet. Lay the foie on a chilled plate and return it to the cold; it must meet the pan firm, not soft.

4. 4

   Butter the asparagus

   Cook the asparagus tips à l’anglaise, in generously salted boiling water, until vividly green and just tender when pierced at the cut end, about 2 to 4 minutes depending on thickness. Drain them thoroughly and wipe the pan dry. Return the asparagus over low heat with the whole butter, rolling the tips until the butter clings in a bright, even glaze. If water gathers beneath them, lift out the asparagus, reduce the liquid for 30 seconds, then return them to the pan. Hold them in a covered warm bowl, never over direct heat.

5. 5

   Brown the sweetbreads

   Heat the oven to 200°F (95°C) and warm an oval serving platter inside. Season the sweetbread escalopes lightly with salt and white pepper. Heat 4 tablespoons of the clarified butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the slices in two uncrowded batches, about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deeply golden and fully hot at the centre with a gentle spring beneath a fingertip. Transfer them to the warm platter in one layer. If the butter darkens or smells scorched, wipe out the pan and use the reserved clarified butter; burnt fat cannot be hidden beneath Madeira sauce.

6. 6

   Sear the foie gras

   Wipe the skillet clean and heat it until properly hot. Dredge the cold foie gras lightly in the seasoned flour, tapping off every excess, then sauté it in a thin film of the remaining clarified butter, working in batches. Give each slice about 30 to 45 seconds per side, just until amber-gold outside and barely set within. If the foie begins shedding a puddle of fat before it colours, lift it immediately to a chilled plate, pour off the rendered fat, chill the slices for 5 minutes, and reheat the clean pan before trying again. Ça se rattrape, but only if you stop early.

   Flour should be a veil, not a coat. A heavy dredging turns pasty while the foie gras melts beneath it.
7. 7

   Compose and serve

   Arrange the 12 sweetbread escalopes and 12 foie gras escalopes alternately around the warm platter, making one generous circle. Lay the sliced truffle in an overlapping crown along the top of that ring, then heap the butter-glossed asparagus tips neatly in the centre. Rewarm the Madeira sauce to a bare simmer, take it off the heat, and stir in the reserved truffle juice. Taste once for salt, pour the sauce into a warmed sauceboat, and serve it separately so the composition reaches the table intact. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask specifically for heart sweetbreads, the rounded thymus lobes. They press and slice more evenly than the long throat portions, which matters when the escalopes must alternate cleanly with the foie gras.
• •Use raw foie gras lobe, not mousse, pâté, or torchon. Chill it until firm before slicing and again before dredging; cold is what gives the pan time to colour the surface before the interior begins to melt.
• •A whole black truffle preserved in its own juice is the honest home answer when fresh truffle is unavailable. The truffle makes the crown and its juice replaces separate truffle essence. Truffle oil brings a different, blunt aroma and does not belong here.
• •The veal stock must be unsalted and rich enough to set softly when chilled. Thin packaged broth becomes salty before it gains the body of a Madeira sauce; use homemade stock or a good frozen veal stock with natural gelatin.
• •This dish needs fresh asparagus with tight tips. Out of season, frozen tips soften too much for the composed centre; wait for the good spears or choose another classical garnish and call it by its own name.
• •Pour a dry, full-bodied white Burgundy or a mature brut Champagne. Both have enough acidity for the foie gras and enough breadth for sweetbread, truffle, and Madeira.

Advance Preparation

• •Complete Blanchings (No. 273) up to one day ahead. Drain, trim, and press the sweetbreads as directed in step 1, then wrap and chill them; the stated timing assumes the referenced blanching preparation has already been completed.
• •The Madeira sauce may be reduced and strained up to two days ahead. Chill it promptly, rewarm it gently, and add the truffle juice only at service so its aroma stays distinct.
• •Trim the asparagus and slice the truffle earlier in the day. Keep the asparagus wrapped in a damp cloth and the truffle tightly covered in the cold.
• •The foie gras may be sliced up to one hour before cooking and held on a chilled plate. Season and dredge it only when the skillet is already hot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)