Poularde aux Champignons à Blanc

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Snug 7 to 8-quart (6.5 to 7.5-liter) stockpot with lid
• •2-quart (2-liter) heavy saucepan
• •10-inch (25-centimeter) sauté pan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small sharp paring knife or channel knife
• •Kitchen twine and baking parchment
• •Large warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Truss the poularde

   Tuck the wing tips beneath the bird, draw the legs together, and tie them securely with kitchen twine. Trussing keeps the poularde compact so the breast and legs cook evenly, and it gives you the composed shape the sauce must eventually cover. Set it breast up in a snug stockpot.

2. 2

   Poach without boiling

   Add the white chicken stock, onion, leek, celery, bouquet garni, and 2 teaspoons of the salt. Add only enough cold water to cover the bird by about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring the liquid up slowly, skimming away the grey foam before it can cloud the stock, then hold it between 180 and 190°F (82 and 88°C), where the surface barely trembles. Cover with a round of baking parchment and poach for 55 to 70 minutes, turning the bird once if it isn't fully submerged, until both the thickest part of the breast and the inner thigh register 165°F (74°C). If the liquid begins to boil, pull the pot from the heat and add a ladleful of cold water before returning it to the lowest setting. Ça se rattrape: strain away any cloudiness later, but quiet the boil at once to protect the poultry. Lift the cooked bird onto a rack set over a tray, cover it loosely, and keep all the poaching liquor.

   A hard boil tightens the breast, splits the skin, and emulsifies fat into the stock. A bare tremble cooks just as surely and leaves both poultry and liquor finer.
3. 3

   Groove the mushrooms

   While the poularde poaches, pull the stems from all twenty mushrooms and reserve them. Hold each cap rounded side up and cut six to eight shallow curved grooves from crown to rim with the tip of a small paring knife, turning the cap as you work. Reserve every pale trimming with the stems. Place the caps, stems, and trimmings in a wide sauté pan with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter, 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the lemon juice, the 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) water, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover directly with parchment and hold at a bare simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until a knife enters the caps with slight resistance. If the butter begins to sizzle, the liquid has reduced too soon; add a few spoonfuls of water immediately so the mushrooms cook without color.

4. 4

   Reduce mushroom essence

   Lift out the twenty mushroom caps carefully and keep them covered with a spoonful of their cooking liquor. Strain the remaining liquor through a fine sieve, pressing the stems and trimmings gently, then reduce it to ½ cup (120 ml / about 120 g). This is the mushroom essence named by the source, made from the very pieces a brigade would have sent to another saucepan. It should smell distinctly of fresh mushrooms and lemon without turning brown.

5. 5

   Build the velouté

   Strain the poultry poaching liquor through a fine sieve and skim away the surface fat. Measure 3 cups (720 ml / about 720 g), reducing it first if its flavor seems weak, and keep it hot. Melt 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) of the butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the roux smells cooked but remains ivory. Whisk in the hot poaching liquor a ladleful at a time, smoothing each addition before adding the next, then whisk in the reduced mushroom essence. Simmer very gently for 12 to 15 minutes, skimming as needed, until the velouté coats the back of a spoon. If it is lumpy, don't fight it in the pan. Pass it through the fine sieve and return it to low heat. If it is too thick, loosen it with reserved poaching liquor; if thin, reduce it now, before the yolks arrive.

6. 6

   Finish sauce Allemande

   Reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the cream, then whisk the remaining cream with the egg yolks in a bowl. Slowly whisk in about 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) of the hot velouté to temper the yolks, then return the mixture to the saucepan. Stir continuously over the gentlest heat until the sauce thickens to a flowing ribbon, keeping it below a simmer. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter, the final tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) lemon juice, and the white pepper. Taste for salt. If the sauce turns faintly grainy, remove it from the heat at once, whisk in the reserved cold cream, and pass it through a clean fine sieve. Ça se rattrape. Sauce Allemande should nap the spoon smoothly, rich enough to veil the poultry but loose enough to flow.

   Once the liaison of yolks and cream enters, boiling is finished. The velouté must already have its proper body because fierce reduction now would curdle the sauce.
7. 7

   Coat and serve

   Remove the twine from the poularde and blot away any moisture gathered on its surface. Set it breast up on a warmed oval platter. Napper, coat the bird with sauce, spooning the Allemande over it in an even ivory veil and allowing a generous pool to gather below. Drain the twenty mushroom caps and arrange them around the poularde with their grooves facing upward. Brush each with a little sauce and serve the remainder in a warmed sauceboat. Bring it straight to the table and carve there. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a specially raised, plump young hen with more fat than the usual roasting bird. If your butcher can't supply one, choose a broad-breasted chicken weighing 4 to 4½ pounds (1.8 to 2 kilograms). Technique first, always.
• •Use white chicken stock made from unroasted bones, or a good unsalted packaged stock with a clean poultry flavor. Brown stock brings roasted color and flavor that belong to another dish.
• •Choose twenty mushrooms of nearly identical size, about 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 centimeters) across. Grooving takes patience, but the white carved border is part of this preparation, not idle decoration.
• •White pepper keeps the sauce visually clean. Use it lightly because its flavor grows more assertive as the sauce stands.
• •Serve with buttered rice, fresh noodles, or pommes vapeur to collect the sauce. A dry white Burgundy or another restrained Chardonnay has enough body for the cream without overwhelming the mushroom essence.
• •Refrigerate leftover poultry and sauce separately for up to 2 days. Reheat the sauce over very low heat with a spoonful of poaching liquor, never allowing it to boil.

Advance Preparation

• •The white chicken stock can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, chilled quickly, and refrigerated. Remove any solidified fat before using it.
• •The mushroom caps can be grooved and cooked up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered in their strained cooking liquor and reheat them gently without boiling.
• •The velouté can be completed through step 5 up to 2 hours before serving. Press parchment directly against its surface, reheat it gently, then add the egg-and-cream liaison only when the table is nearly ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 520g)