Boudins Blancs de Volaille

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with a sharp metal blade
• •Fine drum sieve or sturdy fine-mesh sieve
• •Small sausage stuffer with a ½-inch (12 mm) tube
• •Wide 12-inch (30 cm) pan for the bain-marie
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Potato ricer or food mill
• •Rimmed broiler tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the foundation

   Bring the milk just to a boil, then pour it into a shallow metal bowl and set that bowl over ice until the milk is thoroughly cold, no warmer than 40°F (4°C). Chill the processor bowl and blade for fifteen minutes, and keep the chicken, fresh fat bacon, and eggs cold. Soak and rinse the casing according to the butcher's directions, running cold water through its length to find any holes.

   Cold is not housekeeping here. It keeps the fat suspended inside the chicken proteins, which is what gives the finished boudin its fine, tender texture.
2. 2

   Sweat the onion

   Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over low heat. Add the onion, thyme, and bay leaf, then cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent without a trace of browning. Discard the bay leaf, spread the onion thinly on a cold plate, and chill it completely. Warm onion would loosen the emulsion before it begins.

3. 3

   Pound the forcemeat

   Process the chicken alone until very finely minced, then scrape it into a chilled bowl. Process the fresh fat bacon separately to the same fineness. Return both to the processor with the cold onion, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg, then process until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs one at a time, processing until each disappears before adding the next. Stop and scrape the bowl as needed. If the mixture becomes greasy or rises above 50°F (10°C), stop at once, spread it on a chilled tray, and refrigerate it for ten minutes before continuing.

4. 4

   Sieve and emulsify

   Press the forcemeat through a fine drum sieve with a flexible scraper, discarding any sinew left behind. Return the sieved mixture to the chilled processor. With the motor running, add the boiled, very cold milk in four small additions, letting each one bind completely before the next. Stop as soon as the forcemeat is smooth, glossy, and tacky enough to cling to a spoon. If milk or fat begins to bead around the bowl, stop. Chill the mixture over ice, process one-quarter of it until tacky again, then feed the remainder back a spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape. If it still refuses to bind, poach it in buttered ramekins in the bain-marie; you lose the sausage shape, not supper.

   Poach a teaspoon of forcemeat in barely trembling water. Its cut surface should be fine and juicy, with no pockets of milk or melted fat.
5. 5

   Fill the casings

   Fit the casing onto a small sausage stuffer and fill it gently, supporting the sausage with one hand so the casing remains plump but not taut. Twist it into eight links about 5 inches (13 cm) long and tie the ends. Prick only visible air bubbles with a fine sterilized needle. If the casing tears, cut it cleanly at the tear, tie both new ends, and continue. Chill the links for fifteen minutes while you prepare the potato purée.

6. 6

   Make the purée

   Cover the potatoes with cold water, add the salt, and bring them gradually to a simmer. Cook for 18 to 22 minutes, until a knife passes through without resistance. Drain well, return them to the dry pan for one minute over low heat, then pass them through a ricer. Warm the cream with the 4 tablespoons of butter just until the butter melts. Fold this into the potatoes in two additions, working only until smooth, then taste for salt. Keep the purée covered over barely warm water for no longer than thirty minutes. Vigorous beating makes potatoes gluey; fold, don't punish them.

7. 7

   Poach at a tremble

   Heat a wide pan of water to 170°F (77°C), then lower in the boudins in a single layer. Hold this bain-marie between 165°F and 175°F (74°C and 79°C), with the surface barely trembling and never bubbling hard. Poach for 18 to 25 minutes, turning once, until the centre of a link reaches 160°F (71°C). A boil can split the casing and force out the emulsion. If one link opens, lower the heat immediately and remove that link once cooked; cool it briefly, slice it thickly, and brown the slices in butter while the intact boudins finish.

8. 8

   Grill and serve

   Heat the broiler and position a rack 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) below it. Lift the boudins from the bath, dry them carefully, and brush them with the melted butter. Grill gently for 5 to 7 minutes, turning every minute or two, until the skins carry pale butter-gold patches and the centres reach 165°F (74°C). Do not chase a dark crust; these casings are delicate. Spoon the cream-rich purée onto a warm platter, arrange two boudins per person, and carry them straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •In this source formula, de volaille names the chicken meat, not an absence of pork. Fresh fat bacon supplies the fat phase that keeps the boudin succulent and stable. Ordinary smoked bacon changes both its colour and its flavour, so ask a butcher for unsmoked fatty belly or pork back fat.
• •The 285 ml of milk is deliberate, not a rounded cup. It preserves the source proportion when the professional batch is halved. Boil it first and chill it completely, exactly as the formula directs.
• •The sieve is slow work and worth keeping. A processor can replace the mortar's pounding, but it cannot remove every strand of sinew or produce quite the same fine finish on its own.
• •A dry Champagne or a mineral Chablis suits the mild chicken, nutmeg, and cream without flattening them. Serve the boudins immediately after grilling, while their casings are taut and their centres remain tender.

Advance Preparation

• •The milk may be boiled and chilled a day ahead. Keep it covered in the cold until needed.
• •The onion mixture may be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated. It must be completely cold before it touches the forcemeat.
• •The boudins may be stuffed and poached a day ahead. Cool them promptly over ice, cover, and refrigerate, then brush with butter and grill gently just before serving. They keep for up to two days after poaching.
• •The potato purée is best made shortly before serving, but it may be held for thirty minutes in a covered bowl over barely warm water. Fold in a spoonful of warm cream if it tightens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)