Poularde aux Champignons à Brun

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Snug 5-quart heavy casserole with a lid
• •Small heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •12-inch skillet
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small whisk
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Sharp paring knife
• •Butcher's twine
• •Oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare mushroom essence

   Chop the reserved mushroom stems and place them in a small saucepan with the filtered water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for about 20 minutes, until the liquid measures 1 cup (240 ml). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve without forcing the solids through. This concentrated, unsalted mushroom essence replaces the stockpot preparation a brigade kept ready.

2. 2

   Poêle the poularde

   Season the cavity and skin with 1¾ teaspoons of the salt and all the pepper, then tuck the wings underneath and tie the legs together. Cook the seasoned poularde according to Poëlings (No. 250), scaled for a 4 to 4½ lb bird. Do not add stock, water, or wine while it cooks; poêling remains a roast, and premature liquid turns its concentrated flavour pale. The bird is ready when the breast reaches at least 165°F (74°C), the thigh reaches 170 to 175°F (77 to 79°C), and the skin is evenly bronze. Transfer it to a warm platter, cover loosely, and rest for 15 minutes. Leave the cooking butter, aromatic vegetables, and fond in the casserole.

3. 3

   Cook mushroom caps

   While the poularde rests, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the grooved mushroom caps and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook gently, turning once, until the caps are tender, lightly gilded, and still hold their shape, about 7 to 9 minutes. Cover and keep them warm off the heat.

4. 4

   Swill the casserole

   Pour the mushroom essence into the poëling casserole before removing its cooking butter. Bring it to a gentle boil and scrape up the brown fond, leaving behind any truly black specks, which taste bitter rather than roasted. Simmer for 10 minutes so the essence can draw the poultry and vegetable savour from the butter. Strain into a clean saucepan, skim away the excess fat, then reduce the liquor to about ⅓ cup (80 ml). If the casserole caught in one place, ça se rattrape: scrape only the clean brown fond and leave the burnt patch untouched.

5. 5

   Join the reductions

   Add the reduced pan liquor to the ¼ imperial pint of Madeira demi-glace. Hold it at a lively simmer until the sauce is glossy and nappant, coating the back of a spoon without running off like broth, about 4 to 6 minutes. Taste before adding salt because prepared demi-glace can be assertive. If the sauce becomes too tight, loosen it with a tablespoon of warm water; if it remains thin, reduce it further now, before the finishing butter enters.

6. 6

   Monter au beurre

   Take the saucepan completely off the heat. Whisk in the cold butter one cube at a time, adding the next only when the previous cube has disappeared, until the sauce is smooth, full-bodied, and reflective. Never boil it after this point or the butter separates. If it does split, ça se rattrape: place 1 tablespoon of cool water in a clean saucepan and whisk in the broken sauce a spoonful at a time until it comes together again.

7. 7

   Dish and serve

   Set the whole poularde on the warm platter and arrange the twenty mushroom caps in a close ring around it, five for each serving. Pour the Madeira demi-glace into a warm sauceboat and serve it separately, as the source directs, so the burnished bird remains visible and each portion receives its sauce at the table. Carve the breast across the grain, divide the legs at their joints, and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a plump, well-fattened young hen with more breast and richness than a small fryer. If your butcher cannot supply one, choose the best 4 to 4½ lb young hen available. Technique first, always.
• •Choose a low-salt veal demi-glace with a clean roasted flavour. If yours is sold as a concentrate, dilute it to flowing sauce consistency, add enough Madeira to make its identity clear, and only then measure the required ¼ imperial pint.
• •Groove each mushroom cap with five or six shallow curved cuts made with a small paring knife. A special channel knife is brigade equipment, not the dish; the paring knife gives the same handsome cap without buying another object for the drawer.
• •Serve a broad white Burgundy or a restrained red Burgundy. Either has enough structure for the Madeira and mushrooms without trampling the poularde.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and keep the bird, mushrooms, and sauce separately for up to three days. Reheat the sauce over very gentle heat with a spoonful of water and never let it boil.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the mushroom essence up to two days ahead, cool it promptly, and refrigerate it covered. Measure the Madeira demi-glace at the same time so both sauce components are ready when the bird leaves the casserole.
• •The mushroom caps may be grooved and cooked up to two hours ahead. Keep them covered and rewarm them gently in their butter while the poularde rests.
• •The sauce can be completed through the reduction with Madeira demi-glace up to two hours ahead. Reheat it to a bare simmer, remove it from the heat, and monter au beurre only when the platter is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)