Vol au Vent de Cervelle

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large nonreactive bowl
• •Small sharp knife
• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Two small saucepans
• •Small covered sauté pan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two teaspoons for shaping quenelles
• •8-inch (20 cm) serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the brain

   Set the calf brain in a nonreactive bowl with 3 cups (710 ml) of the cold water and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the vinegar. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, drain, and repeat with another 3 cups (710 ml) water and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vinegar. Working in a bowl of clean cold water, slip away the thin outer membrane and any dark blood vessels with your fingertips and the tip of a small knife. Keep the lobes as whole as you can, but do not worry over a small tear; gentle poaching will firm everything enough to slice.

2. 2

   Poach it pale

   Combine 3 cups (710 ml) of the remaining water with the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vinegar, the carrot, onion, bouquet garni, and 2 teaspoons (12 g) salt. Simmer for 10 minutes to make a light court-bouillon, then lower in the brain. Cover it with a round of baking parchment and hold the liquid at the barest tremble for 15 to 20 minutes, never a boil, until the centre reaches 160°F (71°C). Lift the brain into a shallow dish, strain enough court-bouillon over it to cover, and cool for about 20 minutes. Drain and cut across the lobes into 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) slices.

3. 3

   Make the forcemeat

   Put the cold veal, 3 tablespoons (15 g) breadcrumbs, milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons (21 g) butter, 1 egg yolk, nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a chilled food processor. Pulse until the mixture becomes smooth, sticky, and able to hold a ridge from a spoon, stopping before the bowl grows warm. Scrape it into a cold bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. The processor replaces the mortar and sieve, but the cold remains essential; warm forcemeat leaks fat and gives heavy quenelles.

4. 4

   Cook mushrooms à blanc

   Melt 1 tablespoon (14 g) butter in a small covered pan with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Add the mushrooms and cook them à blanc (without browning) over gentle heat for 5 to 7 minutes, shaking the covered pan once or twice. Uncover and cook only until tender. Drain them, reserve their liquor, and weigh 4 ounces (115 g) for the filling. Keep them whole if they are truly small; halve any larger ones.

5. 5

   Build Sauce Allemande

   Measure the reserved mushroom liquor and enough pale stock together to make 1 1/4 cups (300 ml). Melt 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook this roux blanc (white roux) for 2 minutes without letting it colour. Whisk in the measured liquid gradually, scraping well into the corners, then simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes until reduced to about 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (195 ml) and thick enough to coat a spoon. Whisk 2 egg yolks with 4 tablespoons (60 ml) cream, temper them with several spoonfuls of hot sauce, then return everything to the pan over low heat. Whisk until the Sauce Allemande reaches 160°F (71°C), looks glossy, and coats the spoon cleanly. Never let it boil. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons (10 ml) lemon juice, the remaining white pepper, and salt to taste, then pass it through a fine sieve. You need 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (285 ml), the book's half-pint at the home table. If the liaison turns grainy, take it off the heat immediately and whisk in the reserved tablespoon of cold cream before straining. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Poach and refresh

   Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Set the Vol-au-Vent Crust (No. 2390) and its lid on a baking sheet and warm them for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pastry feels crisp and light again. Meanwhile, bring the remaining 3 cups (710 ml) water and 2 teaspoons salt to 175°F to 185°F (80°C to 85°C), with movement below the surface but no rolling bubbles. Dip two teaspoons in the water and shape the cold forcemeat into 12 small oval quenelles. Poach one first. If it frays, stop, mix the reserved breadcrumbs into the forcemeat, and chill it for 10 minutes before continuing. Poach all 12 for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until their centres reach 160°F (71°C), then lift them onto a clean towel to drain.

7. 7

   Fill the vol-au-vent

   Return the Sauce Allemande to the lowest heat. Add the sliced brain, all 12 quenelles, exactly 4 ounces (115 g) cooked mushrooms, and all but the 6 reserved truffle slices. Fold with a broad spoon for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the garnish is hot, keeping the sauce below a simmer. If the Allemande tightens, loosen it with pale stock a tablespoon at a time; if a brain slice breaks, stop stirring and guide the filling with the spoon instead. Set the crisp case on its platter, pour and guide the filling into it, then arrange the reserved truffle slices over the surface. Rest the pastry lid at an angle against the rim and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy calf brain only from a licensed butcher whose meat has passed local inspection, keep it very cold, and cook it the day you collect it. The brain should smell clean and mild, with a moist pale surface and no grey or green patches.
• •The stock decides the colour. Use pale veal stock or a good unsalted chicken stock with no roasted flavour; dark beef stock would turn the Allemande brown and overwhelm the brain.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when the season offers it, but a whole preserved truffle is the classical pantry's honest answer. Drain it well and slice it yourself. Truffle oil cannot replace the slices or their texture.
• •A vol-au-vent waits for nobody. Bring it to the table as soon as it is filled, before the Allemande softens the inner pastry. A dry white Burgundy has enough weight for the sauce and enough acidity to keep the next forkful inviting.
• •The folded napkin beneath the pastry belonged to formal service and can go. A bare, warm platter is safer, keeps stray cloth away from sauce, and lets the crust remain crisp.

Advance Preparation

• •The Vol-au-Vent Crust (No. 2390) can be baked earlier in the day, cooled completely, and kept airtight at room temperature. Refresh it in the oven immediately before filling.
• •The calf brain can be cleaned and poached up to one day ahead. Cool it promptly in strained court-bouillon, cover, and refrigerate. If it is fully chilled, warm the slices separately in a little court-bouillon to 165°F (74°C), drain them, and then fold them into the finished sauce.
• •The forcemeat can be mixed up to 4 hours ahead and kept covered in the cold. Shape and poach the quenelles only at service, as the source directs.
• •The mushrooms and the roux-thickened sauce base can be prepared one day ahead. Refrigerate them separately, then reheat the sauce base and add the yolk-and-cream liaison shortly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)