Poularde à la Financière

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5 to 6-quart heavy cocotte with lid
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small sharp paring knife for grooving mushrooms
• •Wide saucepan and two teaspoons for shaping quenelles
• •Fine-mesh sieve and shallow ladle
• •Warmed oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Truss the poularde

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Dry the poularde thoroughly, then season it inside and out with the salt and white pepper. Fold the wing tips beneath the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen string, keeping the breast broad rather than hauling the string tight. Trussing is practical here: it gives the bird an even shape, protects the breast, and lets it sit handsomely on the final platter.

   A wet bird cannot brown. Dry the skin again just before it enters the butter, particularly beneath the wings and around the legs.
2. 2

   Brown and braise

   Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy cocotte over medium heat. When the foam subsides, brown the poularde patiently on the breast, back, and both sides until the skin is an even hazelnut gold, 12 to 15 minutes in all. Lift it out. Add 1 tablespoon butter with the onion, carrot, and celery, and cook until lightly colored. Pour in 2 cups of the stock, scraping every browned trace from the pot, then add the bouquet garni. Return the bird breast-side up; the liquid should reach roughly one-third of the way up its sides. Cover and braise in the oven for 75 to 95 minutes, basting once, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F (74°C) without touching bone. If the butter or fond darkens toward bitter black during browning, lower the heat and loosen it immediately with a spoonful of stock before continuing.

3. 3

   Poach the quenelles

   While the poularde braises, bring a wide saucepan of water to the barest tremble, about 180°F (82°C). Using two teaspoons dipped in cold water, shape the cold chicken mousseline into 12 small oval quenelles. Poach one as a test, then cook the rest without crowding for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until softly firm and springy. Lift them into a shallow dish with a spoonful of poaching liquid. If the test quenelle frays, stop. Ça se rattrape. Lower the water below a simmer and chill the mousseline for 10 minutes before shaping again; boiling water and warm forcemeat are the usual culprits.

4. 4

   Cook the garnish

   Fresh cocks’ combs must arrive cleaned and peeled through Blanchings (No. 273); that separate preparation is not repeated here. Simmer prepared fresh combs gently in the remaining ½ cup stock with enough water to cover for 25 to 35 minutes, until a knife enters without resistance. Cooked combs from brine need only 5 minutes of warming. Add the cocks’ kidneys for the final 4 to 5 minutes, just until firm, then lift both out. Blanch the olives in fresh boiling water for 2 minutes and drain. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the emptied saucepan, add the grooved mushroom caps with 2 tablespoons of the comb cooking liquor, cover, and cook gently for 5 to 7 minutes until tender and glossy. Keep the quenelles, mushrooms, combs, kidneys, and olives separate so each retains its shape.

5. 5

   Reduce the liquor

   Transfer the cooked poularde to a warm platter, cover it loosely, and rest it for 15 minutes. Strain the braising liquor into a wide saucepan, discard the vegetables and bouquet garni, and skim away the surface fat. Boil the liquor steadily until reduced to about 1 cup and distinctly concentrated. Add the prepared demi-glace and reduce again until about 1½ cups remain and the sauce naps the back of a spoon in a glossy, even coat. A thin sauce needs further reduction; one that tightens too far takes a spoonful of unsalted stock. If it looks greasy, skim it rather than whisking the fat back in.

6. 6

   Unite the garnish

   Lower the sauce to the gentlest heat and stir in the truffle essence. Reserve about ¾ cup in a warmed sauceboat. Add the quenelles, mushroom caps, cocks’ combs, kidneys, and olives to the remaining sauce and warm them for 2 to 3 minutes without boiling. Slip in the truffle slices for the final 30 seconds. High heat toughens the quenelles and spends the truffle’s perfume before the platter reaches the table, so this last warming must remain calm.

7. 7

   Build the platter

   Remove the string and set the poularde in the center of a warmed oval platter. Arrange the garnish in small alternating groups around it, giving every serving a quenelle, mushroom, cocks’ comb or kidney, olives, and truffle. Spoon only the sauce clinging to the garnish around the bird, enough to make everything gleam without hiding its shape. Send the reserved truffle-scented sauce beside it in the sauceboat and carve at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a plump young hen prized for tender, well-marbled flesh. When it cannot be found, choose an air-chilled chicken close to 4 lb (1.8 kg) with an ample breast and intact skin. Technique first, always.
• •Prepared demi-glace is the honest home equivalent of the stockpot and saucier the source assumes. Buy it frozen from a butcher or use your own frozen supply, and choose it unsalted because both it and the braising liquor will be reduced. Packet gravy is not demi-glace.
• •Ask a specialist poultry butcher for prepared cocks’ combs and rognons de coq. If neither can be sourced, 4 oz (120 g) of blanched veal sweetbread provides a delicate offal texture, but the result is an adaptation rather than the complete garniture financière. The difference is real, so name it honestly.
• •A small preserved whole black truffle with its juice is better here than a tired fresh truffle. Do not replace the truffle essence with flavored oil; its blunt aroma takes command of a sauce meant to taste first of poultry and demi-glace.
• •Serve a mature red Burgundy or a restrained Bordeaux. Leftovers keep for up to 2 days in the cold; carve the bird before chilling and reheat the meat and garnish very gently in the sauce so the quenelles remain tender.

Advance Preparation

• •The prepared chicken mousseline forcemeat and demi-glace may be made or purchased ahead. Keep the mousseline thoroughly cold and the demi-glace refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen until needed.
• •The quenelles may be poached 1 day ahead and chilled with a little poaching liquid. The cocks’ combs and kidneys may also be cooked ahead, covered with their cooking liquor, and chilled separately.
• •Groove the mushroom caps and pit the olives earlier on the day of serving. Cook the mushrooms near serving time so they remain plump and distinct.
• •Complete the braise and sauce close to dinner. Once reduced, the sauce can wait over the gentlest heat for 20 minutes; add the truffle essence and warm the garnish only at the end.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 525g)