Ris de Veau aux Queues d’Écrevisses

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two rimmed trays and a 2 to 3 lb (900 g to 1.4 kg) weight
• •4 qt (3.8 L) shallow braiser with lid
• •Small food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Long oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch and press

   Cover the sweetbreads with 2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) of the cold water and refrigerate for 1 hour. Drain, cover with another 2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg), and soak for 1 hour more; the water should finish nearly clear. Put the remaining 2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) water and 1 tsp (5 ml / 6 g) salt in a saucepan with the sweetbreads. Bring slowly from cold to the first bare simmer, hold for 3 minutes, then transfer the lobes to ice water. Once cool, peel away the tough outer membrane and pull out thick cords without tearing into the tender flesh. Set the sweetbreads between two towel-lined trays, weight them with 2 to 3 lb (900 g to 1.4 kg), and refrigerate for 1 hour. Pressing gives them the close, even shape that will hold the truffle and slice cleanly.

   Trim with restraint. Remove rubbery membrane and large vessels, but leave the delicate inner webbing alone; chasing every filament turns a handsome lobe into scraps.
2. 2

   Shell the crayfish

   Twist the tail from each crayfish, peel away the shell, and remove the dark intestinal thread without splitting the meat. Refrigerate all 16 tails. Choose the eight largest, least damaged body carapaces, pull out the gills and interior sacs with a teaspoon, rinse them briefly, and dry them well. Pick any useful claw meat for another meal, then crush the remaining eight body shells and all the emptied claws and legs with a rolling pin. Keep every fragment; it is the foundation of the crayfish butter.

3. 3

   Extract crayfish butter

   Melt the ½ cup (120 ml / 113 g) butter over low heat in a small heavy saucepan. Add the crushed shells and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, pressing and turning them until the butter becomes coral and smells distinctly of crayfish, but never letting the milk solids brown. Add the 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) water and hold at a bare simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, pressing the shells firmly, then set the bowl over ice until the coloured butter firms above the liquid. Lift it off and scrape away any watery residue underneath. You need at least 4 tbsp (60 ml / 56 g). If the butter is pale, remelt it with the shells for 5 minutes and strain again; the flavour can still be drawn out.

4. 4

   Make cold forcemeat

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Process the chicken with ¼ tsp (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) salt and ⅛ tsp (0.6 ml / 0.25 g) white pepper until smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. Reserve 1 tbsp (15 ml / 15 g) of the cold cream, then add the rest in a thin stream while pulsing. Work in 1 tbsp (15 ml / 14 g) crayfish butter. The forcemeat must remain cold and glossy; if it turns grainy or leaks fat, stop, chill it for 10 minutes, then pulse in the reserved cream. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water until it reaches 165°F (74°C), taste, and correct the seasoning. Fill the eight cleaned carapaces generously with the forcemeat, smoothing the tops with a spoon, and refrigerate them.

   Temperature is structure here. A cold forcemeat binds into silk; a warm one separates into chicken and cream, which is a much less interesting arrangement.
5. 5

   Stud with truffle

   Unwrap the pressed sweetbreads and pat them dry. With the tip of a narrow paring knife or a clean metal skewer, make five slim tunnels through each lobe, following its length. Slide one truffle baton into every tunnel so the ends sit flush with the surface. Keep the openings narrow; large pockets make the sweetbreads split during braising. If a lobe needs help holding its shape, tie one loose loop of kitchen string around its middle.

6. 6

   Braise without colour

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). If using boxed stock, bloom the gelatin in ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) cold stock for 5 minutes, then warm it into the remaining stock. Melt the 3 tbsp (45 ml / 42 g) butter in a shallow lidded braiser over low heat. Add the leek, celery, mushrooms, ¼ tsp (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) salt, and ⅛ tsp (0.6 ml / 0.25 g) white pepper. Sweat for 8 minutes until tender but still pale. If an edge begins to colour, add 2 tbsp (30 ml / 30 g) stock at once and lower the heat. Set the sweetbreads on the vegetables, add the wine, 3 cups (720 ml / 720 g) stock, and the bouquet garni, then bring only to a bare simmer. Cover the surface with parchment, put on the lid, and braise in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, turning once, until the lobes feel tender but resilient and reach 160°F (71°C). This is braisage à blanc, braising without colour. Lift the sweetbreads into a clean covered pan with a splash of liquor. Strain the remaining braising liquid, discard the vegetables and bouquet garni, and reduce or supplement the liquid to obtain exactly 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) for the sauce.

7. 7

   Poach filled carapaces

   Arrange the eight filled carapaces stuffing-side up in a shallow pan. Pour 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) of the remaining stock around them, coming halfway up the shells without washing over the forcemeat. Cover and poach at the barest tremble for 12 to 15 minutes, until the forcemeat is set, smooth, and reaches 165°F (74°C). If the liquid begins bubbling hard and the filling swells, pull the pan from the heat for 1 minute, then finish over lower heat. Keep the carapaces covered in their poaching liquid while you make the sauce.

8. 8

   Finish Sauce Allemande

   Melt the 2 tbsp (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for 2 minutes without colouring. This roux blanc, a pale butter-flour base, must lose its raw smell while remaining ivory. Gradually whisk in the 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) hot strained braising liquid. Simmer gently for 12 minutes, skimming the surface, until the velouté lightly coats a spoon. Reserve 1 tbsp (15 ml / 15 g) cream, then whisk the yolks with the rest. Temper them with a ladle of hot velouté, take the saucepan off the heat, and whisk the liaison back into it. Return to the lowest heat and stir until the Sauce Allemande reaches 160°F (71°C) and nappe, coats the back of a spoon. Never boil it. If the yolks begin to grain, strain the sauce immediately into a cold bowl and whisk in the reserved cream. Ça se rattrape. When smooth, whisk in 3 tbsp (45 ml / 42 g) crayfish butter a little at a time, then the lemon juice and enough of the remaining salt and white pepper to sharpen the flavour. Hold the sauce warm, not hot, in a sauceboat.

9. 9

   Bind the tails

   Pour the final ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cream into a wide sauté pan and simmer gently until reduced by about one-third and thick enough to cling to a spoon. Add the 16 crayfish tails and turn them through the cream for 60 to 90 seconds, only until warmed. They are already cooked, so boiling makes them tight. If the cream becomes thin after the tails go in, lift them out, reduce the cream alone, and return them; if it tightens too far, loosen it with a spoonful of reserved stock.

10. 10

    Build the platter

    Remove any string from the sweetbreads and arrange the four lobes in a central row on a warmed long platter. Set eight cream-bound crayfish tails in a generous heap along each side, preserving the book's four-tails-per-person proportion. Drain the filled carapaces and place four at either end, giving two carapaces for every sweetbread. Carry the Sauce Allemande separately so each guest can spoon it over the sweetbread without drowning the careful arrangement. No parsley confetti. The coral shells, ivory sauce, and black truffle have already done the work. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for ris de cœur, the rounded heart sweetbreads, and order them ahead. They should be plump, pale, and faintly sweet-smelling. Dark patches or a sour smell mean they have waited too long.
• •Whole crayfish are non-negotiable because peeled tails leave you no shells for the butter and no carapaces to fill. Frozen whole cooked crayfish are the classical pantry's honest answer when fresh ones are scarce; thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and save every shell.
• •Use a fresh black truffle when the season and purse agree, or a good whole preserved truffle from a sealed jar. Truffle oil cannot be cut into batons, and its perfume overwhelms the sweetbread instead of seasoning it from within.
• •White veal stock gives the cleanest body. Unsalted chicken stock is the honest home equivalent, especially when a little gelatin restores the texture of a stockpot reduction. Brown stock would stain both the braise and the Sauce Allemande.
• •Pour a broad, dry white Burgundy with enough acidity to meet the cream. A forceful red makes the crayfish taste metallic and bullies a dish built on pale flavours.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetbreads may be soaked, blanched, trimmed, and pressed one day ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated, then stud them with truffle shortly before braising.
• •The crayfish may be shelled and the crayfish butter extracted one day ahead. Refrigerate the tails, cleaned carapaces, and butter separately in covered containers.
• •The carapaces may be filled up to 4 hours ahead and kept very cold. Poach them shortly before service so the chicken forcemeat remains tender.
• •Make the velouté base up to 2 hours ahead, but add the yolk-and-cream liaison and crayfish butter near serving. Once liaison-bound, Sauce Allemande must stay below a simmer and should not be held longer than 30 minutes.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat them the following day. Reheat the sweetbreads and carapaces gently in stock; warm the sauce separately over low heat and never let it boil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)