Ris de Veau à la Régence

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch lidded sauté pan or shallow braiser
• •2-quart heavy saucepan for sauce Allemande
• •Food processor with chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible bowl scraper
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Parchment paper
• •Two rimmed trays and a 3 to 4 pound weight
• •Broad oval serving platter and warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the sweetbreads

   Set the sweetbreads in a bowl and cover them generously with cold water. Soak for 2 hours, changing the water twice, until the flesh looks pale and the water remains nearly clear. This removes blood and gives the finished sweetbreads their clean ivory color. Keep the bowl cold throughout.

2. 2

   Blanch and press

   Put the soaked sweetbreads in a saucepan, cover with fresh cold water, and add the vinegar and 1 tablespoon of the salt. Bring up slowly to the barest simmer, then cook for 5 minutes. Transfer them immediately to ice water. While they are still slightly warm, remove the thick outer membrane, obvious tubes, and loose fat without digging into the flesh. If the surface starts tearing, stop peeling; a little fine membrane is better than a gouged sweetbread. Ça se rattrape once pressed. Place the sweetbreads between two trays, weight the upper tray with 3 to 4 pounds, and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

3. 3

   Cut and stud truffle

   Drain the truffles and reserve their juice. Cut 12 slender truffle batons for studding and turn 8 small pieces into olive shapes with a paring knife. Finely chop all the trimmings, reserving about 1 tablespoon for the chicken forcemeat and 1 teaspoon for the sauce. Make narrow channels in the pressed sweetbreads with a metal skewer and slide in the truffle batons. Work gently. If a lobe splits, press it back together and wrap it firmly in parchment for 10 minutes; the braise will help set its shape.

4. 4

   Tenderize the combs

   Put the prepared cocks' combs in a small saucepan with 1 cup of the stock and a pinch of salt. Cover and hold them at a bare simmer for 25 to 35 minutes, until tender and at least 165°F (74°C) at the thickest part. A hard boil makes them rubbery, so let the liquid tremble rather than roll. Cool them in their cooking liquor, which keeps the curled edges plump, then reserve both.

5. 5

   Make fine forcemeat

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Process the cold chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt until smooth and tacky, then remove 2 tablespoons of this plain purée and keep it cold for insurance. Add the egg white and process again. With the machine running, pour in 6 tablespoons of the cold cream in a thin stream, reserving the final 2 tablespoons for adjustment. Add ¼ teaspoon of white pepper, the nutmeg, and the chopped truffle reserved for the forcemeat. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, cover, and chill for 20 minutes. Cold is what keeps this mousseline, a cream-enriched forcemeat, emulsified.

6. 6

   Poach the quenelles

   Heat a wide pan of salted water to 175°F (80°C). Poach a teaspoon of forcemeat as a test. If it feels rubbery, work in 1 tablespoon of the reserved cream. If it frays or dissolves, pulse in the reserved plain chicken purée and chill the mixture for another 10 minutes. Shape 8 oval quenelles between two wet dessert spoons and lower them into the water. Poach without boiling for 8 to 12 minutes, turning once, until lightly resilient and 165°F (74°C) at the center. Lift them onto a lightly buttered plate and cover.

7. 7

   Braise without color

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). If the stock is watery and does not gel when cold, bloom the optional gelatin in ¼ cup of cold stock for 5 minutes, then warm it into the remaining stock before dividing it. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a lidded 12-inch sauté pan. Add the shallot, carrot, and celery and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, softening them without allowing them to brown. Add the wine and reduce it by half, then add 1¼ cups of stock and the bouquet garni. Set the studded sweetbreads over the vegetables, cover with a round of parchment and the lid, and braise in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes. Turn them once and keep the liquid at a bare tremble. They are ready at 160°F (71°C), tender but still holding their shape.

8. 8

   Groove the mushrooms

   While the sweetbreads braise, cut six shallow curved channels down each mushroom cap with the tip of a paring knife. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small pan, add the mushrooms, ¼ cup of stock, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Cover with parchment and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender and still pale. The grooves matter because they identify the Régence garnish, but carving away half a mushroom for perfect symmetry was brigade scaffolding. Clean channels preserve the intent without the waste.

9. 9

   Reduce the braising liquor

   Lift the sweetbreads onto a plate and keep them covered. Strain the braising liquor into a clean saucepan, pressing the vegetables gently, then skim away the surface fat. Boil steadily until reduced to about ¾ cup and glossy enough to coat a spoon. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of cold butter. If the liquor becomes salty before it thickens, stop reducing, add 2 tablespoons of unsalted stock or water, and finish only to a light coating consistency. Ça se rattrape. Return the sweetbreads to this liquor over the lowest heat.

10. 10

    Finish sauce Allemande

    Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a 2-quart saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook this roux gently for 2 minutes without coloration. Gradually whisk in 1½ cups of stock and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, skimming as needed, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Reduce it now if necessary, because it must not boil after the liaison. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining ¼ cup of cream, temper them with three ladlefuls of hot sauce, then return everything to the saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sauce reaches 170 to 175°F (77 to 80°C). Remove it immediately, strain, and stir in the truffle juice, the teaspoon of chopped truffle, the remaining lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of cold butter, and white pepper to taste. The preserved truffle juice is the honest home equivalent of the kitchen-made truffle essence the entry assumed. If the sauce begins to look grainy, take it off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of cold cream before straining. Do not boil it.

11. 11

    Warm the garnish

    Lift the cocks' combs from their liquor. Put the quenelles, combs, and mushrooms in a shallow pan with ¼ cup of the reserved comb cooking liquor. Cover and warm over very low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the olive-cut truffles for only the final 30 seconds, enough to release their aroma without cooking it away. Keep the components intact and separate as you lift them out.

12. 12

    Dish à la Régence

    Warm a broad oval platter and a sauceboat. Arrange the sweetbreads along the center and spoon their reduced braising liquor around them, not over them. Surround them with compact alternating groups of truffled quenelles, grooved mushrooms, curled cocks' combs, and olive-cut truffles, repeating the sequence around the platter. Pour the truffle-scented sauce Allemande into the sauceboat and serve it separately, exactly as the dish requires. Bring everything to the table at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for veal heart sweetbreads, also called the cœur, which are rounder and easier to portion than the long throat gland. They should be firm, pale, moist without slime, and very mild in smell. Order them in advance; technique comes first, but no careful braise can repair a tired gland.
• •Whole preserved black truffles are the classical pantry's honest answer when fresh truffles are unavailable. Keep every drop of their juice for the sauce. Synthetic truffle oil is not a substitute here; it overwhelms the sweetbreads and turns the garnish into perfume.
• •Buy cocks' combs already blanched, peeled, and cleaned from a specialist poultry supplier. Raw combs require singeing and laborious skinning that a brigade could assign to another pair of hands. There is no invisible substitute. If you omit them, say plainly that you have made sweetbreads with truffled quenelles and mushrooms, not the complete Régence garnish.
• •White veal stock is the first choice, but a good unsalted chicken stock with enough gelatin to set softly when cold is the sound home equivalent. Avoid dark roasted stock. Its color and caramelized flavor fight the pale braise and ivory sauce.
• •Pour a white Burgundy with freshness as well as body. The acidity clears the butter and cream, while the wine's breadth meets the truffle and sweetbreads without bullying either.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetbreads can be soaked, blanched, cleaned, and pressed one day ahead. Wrap them closely and refrigerate, then stud them with truffle shortly before braising.
• •The roux and stock base for sauce Allemande can be cooked and strained one day ahead. Chill it promptly, then reheat gently and add the egg-yolk liaison, truffle juice, lemon, and finishing butter only before serving.
• •The quenelles, cocks' combs, and grooved mushrooms may be cooked earlier the same day and refrigerated separately in covered containers. Warm them gently in comb cooking liquor while the braising liquor reduces.
• •Do not assemble the platter far ahead. The quenelles absorb sauce, the truffle loses aroma, and the sweetbreads tighten as they wait. Have the platter warm and bring the components together just before service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 425g)