Poularde Chevalière

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Narrow boning knife
• •Larding needle or slender smooth skewer
• •Small food processor
• •Kitchen-dedicated darning needle or wooden picks
• •Strong cotton kitchen string
• •8-inch (20 cm) narrow saucepan with lid
• •11-inch (28 cm) sauté pan with lid
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warm oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Break down the poularde

   Set the poularde breast-side up. Following the breastbone and ribs with a narrow knife, remove each suprême cleanly, peel away its skin, and lift out the slender minion fillet attached beneath it. Cover and chill the four pieces immediately. Remove each leg at the hip while preserving as much skin as possible. Scrape out the thigh bone, then bone the drumstick to within 1⅓ inches (3.5 cm) of its lower joint. Most market birds arrive without feet, so the source's angled removal of the claws has already been done; retain the short terminal bone as a neat handle. Chill the legs, then chop the carcass, wings, neck, and reserved mushroom stems into pieces for stock.

   Keep the knife against bone rather than cutting outward into the meat. A little flesh left on the carcass strengthens the stock, but a gouged suprême cannot be made whole again.
2. 2

   Make the carcass stock

   Put the chopped carcass, wings, neck, and mushroom stems in a narrow pot with the cold water. Bring it up slowly, skim away the grey foam, then add the onion, leek, celery, bouquet garni, and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Hold the stock at the barest tremble for 1 hour, never at a rolling boil; hard boiling clouds the stock and gives the suprême sauce a coarse taste. Strain without pressing the solids. You should have 4 to 5 cups (960 ml to 1.2 L). If there is less, add enough hot water to reach 4 cups (960 ml); if there is more than 5 cups, reduce it gently.

3. 3

   Cook the mushroom caps

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small saucepan. Add the mushroom caps, the measured ½ cup water, 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice, and a pinch each of salt and white pepper. Cover with a round of parchment and simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until the caps are tender but remain very white. Lift them out and cover them. Strain and reserve every drop of their cooking liquor; it supplies the mushroom foundation for poaching the suprêmes.

4. 4

   Lard and ring

   Cut half the truffle into slender batons matching the tongue, then cut the remainder into very thin slices. With a larding needle, or a narrow paring knife followed by a smooth skewer, form four parallel channels through each suprême without splitting its surface. Thread two channels with truffle and two with tongue, alternating the rows. Make five or six shallow crosswise slits in each minion fillet, stopping before you cut through. Slip a thin truffle slice halfway into every slit, curve each fillet into a ring, and secure its ends with a short wooden pick. Cover and return everything to the cold.

5. 5

   Make the cream godiveau

   Make the godiveau à la crème (veal-and-suet forcemeat enriched with cream) while every ingredient is refrigerator-cold. Pulse the veal, suet, ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and nutmeg in a small food processor until evenly minced. Add the yolk and pulse until the mixture turns sticky, then add the cold cream a spoonful at a time, pulsing only until smooth and cohesive. Poach a teaspoonful in the stock and cut it open to test the texture and seasoning. If the forcemeat sheds fat or looks grainy, it became warm. Ça se rattrape: spread it in a cold bowl, chill it for 10 minutes, then pulse briefly until the emulsion closes and test again.

6. 6

   Stuff and truss

   Divide the godiveau between the two boned legs, filling the cavities evenly without packing them hard. Draw the long skin over each opening and close it with a few stitches of strong cotton using a kitchen-dedicated needle, or overlap the skin and secure it with wooden picks. Tie each leg into a compact oval, gathering the flesh around its short exposed bone so it resembles a small duck. If the skin tears, do not discard the leg. Wrap it snugly in buttered parchment, tie the parcel at three points, and poach it in that support.

7. 7

   Poach the stuffed legs

   Bring enough carcass stock to cover the legs to 170 to 180°F (77 to 82°C) in a narrow saucepan. Lower in the stuffed legs and hold the liquid below a simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, turning once, until the center of the godiveau reaches 165°F (74°C). Boiling can burst the seams and squeeze out the forcemeat; if a closure begins to open, lower the heat immediately, wrap the leg in buttered parchment, retie it, and continue gently. Lift the legs out, cover them loosely, and strain the poaching stock.

8. 8

   Poach the breast pieces

   Butter a wide sauté pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and lay in the suprêmes. Add the reserved mushroom liquor, the remaining teaspoon of lemon juice, and enough strained carcass stock to come one-third of the way up the meat. Cover with buttered parchment and a lid, then poach at the faintest tremble for 8 to 12 minutes. Add the minion-fillet rings during the final 4 minutes. Remove the rings when firm and the suprêmes when their centers reach 160°F (71°C); rest them covered for 5 minutes and verify that they reach 165°F (74°C). Strain and reserve the poaching liquid.

9. 9

   Finish the suprême sauce

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook this pale roux for 2 minutes without letting it color. Measure 1½ cups (360 ml) of the combined leg stock and breast-poaching liquid, heat it, then whisk it gradually into the roux. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, whisking along the bottom, until smooth. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the sauce cream, add the rest, and reduce gently until the sauce is nappant, glossy enough to coat the back of a spoon while still flowing freely. Strain, then whisk in 1 tablespoon cold butter and correct the salt and white pepper. If it becomes too thick, loosen it with stock. If violent heat makes it look oily, take it off the fire and whisk in the reserved cold cream until smooth.

10. 10

    Mount the platter

    Remove every stitch, pick, and length of string. Warm the mushroom caps in the remaining butter with a spoonful of stock. On a heated oval platter, alternate the two stuffed legs with the two suprêmes, placing a truffle-set minion ring on each leg and the white mushroom caps in the spaces between. The original raised each portion on decorated quenelles around a pyramid croûton crowned by a hatelet; those pieces held the display upright but added little to the eating. The unavailable cock's combs and kidneys go without imitation, because liver or sweetbreads would change the dish rather than translate it. Bring the suprême sauce separately in a warm sauceboat and pour it at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order the poularde whole and untouched, with its skin intact and carcass included. If your butcher is willing, ask only for the feet and head to be removed. The breasts, minion fillets, long leg skin, and bones all have separate work to do.
• •A good preserved black truffle is the honest classical pantry answer when fresh truffle is unavailable. Truffle oil cannot be threaded through a suprême and brings none of the texture this preparation requires.
• •Buy cooked cured beef or ox tongue from a proper deli or butcher and cut it into firm, narrow batons. Ham is easier to find but softer and saltier, and it erases the deliberate contrast between tongue and truffle.
• •Serve with small buttered potatoes or plain rice to catch the suprême sauce. A full-bodied white Burgundy or a dry Champagne has enough breadth for the cream, truffle, and tongue without obscuring the poultry.

Advance Preparation

• •The poularde can be broken down and its stock made one day ahead. Chill the stock promptly, cover the poultry pieces separately, and remove any set fat before reheating the stock.
• •The mushroom caps and their liquor can be prepared one day ahead. The legs may also be filled and trussed, then kept covered in the cold for no longer than one day before poaching.
• •Lard the suprêmes and shape the minion rings up to 6 hours ahead. Keep them covered and well chilled so the tongue remains firm and the truffle stays seated.
• •The pale roux and stock portion of the suprême sauce can be cooked earlier in the day. Reheat gently, then add the cream, reduce, and mount with cold butter shortly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)