Poularde à la Parisienne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 to 8-quart snug stockpot with lid
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two dessertspoons for shaping quenelles
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •2-quart heavy saucepan
• •Small saucepan for the pale glaze
• •Slotted spoon
• •16-inch warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the garnishes

   Reserve the truffle slices and cocks' combs of tongue for decorating the bird. To make the tongue shapes, cut thin pieces about 1½ inches long and notch one edge three or four times with the tip of a knife. Divide the cold chicken forcemeat exactly in half. Fold the chopped truffle into one half and the chopped tongue into the other, keeping the two mixtures distinct.

   The forcemeat must remain cold enough to feel firm under the spoon. If it softens or smears, stop and chill it for fifteen minutes. Ça se rattrape. Adding flour would toughen the quenelles and change the dish.
2. 2

   Shape twelve quenelles

   Dip two dessertspoons in cold water. Scoop a rounded spoonful of truffle forcemeat with one, then pass it between the spoons until it forms a smooth oval with tapered ends. Make six, then repeat with the tongue forcemeat. Set all twelve quenelles on a chilled plate, keeping the varieties in separate rows, and return them to the cold. The first may look solemnly lopsided. By the third, your hands will understand.

3. 3

   Poach the poularde

   Set the poularde breast-side up in a snug 6 to 8-quart stockpot. Add the stock, carrot, leek, onion, bouquet garni, salt, and white pepper. The liquid should cover the bird; add only enough cold water to finish the job, and place a small heatproof plate over it if it floats. Bring the liquid from cold to 176 to 185°F (80 to 85°C) over medium heat within about thirty minutes, then lower the heat and hold it at a bare tremble. Poach until both the thickest breast and the inner thigh reach 165°F (74°C), usually another thirty-five to fifty minutes. Never let it boil. If it does, pull the pot off the heat, add a ladleful of cold stock, and resume over lower heat before the flesh tightens.

4. 4

   Rest and strain

   Lift the poularde carefully, letting the hot liquid drain from its cavity, and set it breast-side up on a rack over a tray. Cover it loosely and rest it while the garnishes cook. Strain the poaching liquor, discard the aromatics, and skim away surface fat. Measure 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) into a small saucepan for the glaze, then return enough liquor to the stockpot to poach the quenelles.

5. 5

   Poach the quenelles

   Bring the strained liquor back to 176 to 185°F (80 to 85°C). Lower in the quenelles without crowding them, working in two batches if necessary, and poach for eight to twelve minutes, turning once, until they feel lightly springy and reach 165°F (74°C) at the centre. Lift them with a slotted spoon and drain on a clean cloth. A boil makes their surfaces ragged and their centres rubbery; if the liquid grows lively, slide the pot off the burner until it calms.

6. 6

   Reduce the pale glaze

   Boil the measured cup of poaching liquor in the small saucepan until it reduces to ¼ cup (60 ml / about 65 g), skimming as needed. It should remain pale gold and become lightly syrupy, enough to fall from a spoon in a narrow glossy thread. If it turns sticky before reaching that texture, loosen it with a spoonful of strained poaching liquor. This reduction replaces the separate pot of pale glaze a brigade kept ready all day.

7. 7

   Warm the Allemande

   Put the prepared Sauce Allemande in a heavy saucepan over the lowest heat. Stir continuously until it is hot, fluid, and able to nap the back of a spoon, about 140 to 149°F (60 to 65°C). If it is too thick, loosen it a tablespoon at a time with strained poaching liquor. Never let it simmer. If the yolks begin to form fine grains, remove the pan from the heat immediately and whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) cold cream, adding the second only if needed, then pass the sauce through a fine sieve. Ça se rattrape when you catch it early.

   Do not warm the Allemande until the bird, quenelles, decorations, glaze, and platter are ready. The sauce waits poorly, but everything else can wait for the sauce.
8. 8

   Dress the platter

   Set the whole poularde on a thoroughly warmed oval platter and coat it generously with Sauce Allemande, letting the ivory sauce settle naturally around the base. Arrange the truffle slices and tongue cocks' combs alternately across the breast. Surround the bird with the quenelles, alternating truffle and tongue from one end of the platter to the other. Spoon the reduced pale glaze in one fine, unbroken thread around the outer edge. Bring the remaining Allemande in a warm sauceboat, present the bird whole, then carve it into four portions at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A poularde is a plump young hen prized for tender, well-marbled flesh. If your butcher cannot find one, choose a compact, air-chilled young chicken within the stated weight; it will be leaner, so the thermometer and gentle poach matter more than pedigree.
• •Use a true Sauce Allemande, a velouté finished with egg yolks and cream. It should taste of concentrated chicken first, then cream and lemon, and it must never boil after its liaison. A jarred cream sauce is not the same preparation.
• •Salted ox tongue means tongue that has been cured and fully cooked. An unsmoked cured beef tongue from a good delicatessen is the honest home equivalent; avoid pastrami seasoning or smoke, which would take command of the truffle.
• •Fresh black truffle is magnificent here, but a good whole preserved truffle is part of the classical pantry and behaves better than a tired fresh specimen. Pat preserved truffles dry before slicing so they do not streak the pale sauce.
• •The poaching stock should set softly when cold. That gelatin gives both the poultry and the reduced glaze their body; thin boxed broth will reduce to salt before it reduces to gloss.
• •Pour a dry Champagne or a full, restrained white Burgundy. The sauce wants acidity, the truffle wants breadth, and neither needs sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the fine chicken forcemeat up to one day ahead and keep it tightly covered in the cold. The two flavoured halves and the shaped quenelles can be completed up to four hours before poaching.
• •The truffle and tongue decorations can be cut up to four hours ahead, covered separately, and chilled. Keep the truffle slices flat so their edges remain neat.
• •Sauce Allemande may be prepared earlier the same day, covered directly on its surface, chilled promptly, and warmed with great gentleness at serving time. Do not boil it during reheating.
• •The finished dish should not be assembled ahead. Poach the bird and quenelles, warm the platter, finish the sauce, and dress everything in that order so the Allemande reaches the table glossy and intact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 510g)