Poularde Régence

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10 to 12-quart (9.5 to 11.5 L) stockpot
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two tablespoons for shaping quenelles
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •1½-inch (4 cm) round cutter
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Large oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Keep the mousseline cold

   Set the two bowls of mousseline over ice and keep the crayfish purée cold beside them. With a chilled spatula, fold the ¼ cup (64 g) crayfish purée into the 1½ cups (340 g) mousseline using as few strokes as possible. Poach a teaspoonful in a little chicken stock held at 82°C (180°F); it should set into a smooth, tender morsel. If it feathers or slumps, the emulsion has become warm. Stop, return the bowl to ice for 20 minutes, and test again. Ça se rattrape. Don't beat it harder or add flour, because both make the filling heavy.

   Cold means the bowl, spatula, mousseline, and crayfish purée, not merely the refrigerator they came from. If your kitchen is warm, work with the mixing bowl nested directly in ice.
2. 2

   Stuff and truss

   Pat the poularde dry inside and out. Season its cavity with ¾ teaspoon salt and a little white pepper, then spoon in the crayfish mousseline without packing it tight; it needs a little room to expand as it sets. Close the cavity with poultry skewers or kitchen twine, truss the legs and wings close to the body, and return the bird to the refrigerator while you arrange the poaching liquor. Wash the board, knife, and your hands before handling the cooked garnishes.

3. 3

   Poach at a tremble

   Reserve 4 cups (960 ml) of the chicken stock in a saucepan for the quenelles and garnishes. Set the poularde breast-side up in a deep stockpot, pour over the remaining stock, and add only enough cold water to cover the bird by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring the liquid slowly to 82 to 85°C (180 to 185°F), skimming the surface, then hold it there without boiling. Turn the bird carefully halfway through. Begin checking after 80 minutes; it is ready when the centre of the stuffing and the deepest part of the thigh both reach 74°C (165°F), usually after 80 to 100 minutes at temperature. If the liquid boils, pull the pot from the heat immediately and add a cup of cold water before continuing over gentler heat. Caught quickly, the flesh remains tender.

   Use the thermometer in the centre of the stuffing, not merely the meat. The filling contains raw poultry and its temperature decides when the whole bird is safely cooked.
4. 4

   Shape the Mousselines

   While the poularde poaches, turn eight olive-shaped pieces from the truffle with a small paring knife. Cut several thin diamonds for decoration and mince the remaining trimmings. Keep everything covered. Mousselines are small individual mouldings: use two tablespoons dipped briefly in hot water and wiped dry to shape eight small oval quenelles from most of the plain mousseline. Shape the remainder into two round quenelles, pressing truffle diamonds onto their surfaces. Hold the reserved stock at 80 to 82°C (176 to 180°F) and poach the quenelles for 8 to 10 minutes, until firm and 74°C (165°F) at the centre. If their surfaces crack, the stock is too hot; lower the heat, add a little cool stock, and serve the cracked side underneath.

5. 5

   Cook the pale garnish

   Peel the mushrooms and cut shallow curved grooves from cap to stem, rotating each mushroom as you work. Place them in a shallow pan with 2 tablespoons butter, the lemon juice, 1 cup (240 ml) water, and a pinch of salt. Cover with a round of parchment and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, just until tender and still very white. Warm the prepared cockscombs separately in some reserved stock for about 5 minutes, never allowing them to boil, then drain both garnishes well. Grooving is presentation work; whiteness and tenderness are the parts that matter.

6. 6

   Drain the poularde

   Lift the cooked poularde carefully from the stock, supporting its back so the tender skin doesn't tear. Tip it briefly to drain the cavity, then rest it breast-side up on a rack for 15 minutes, loosely covered. Strain and reserve a cup of the poaching stock for adjusting the sauce. Remove the trussing twine just before the bird goes onto its warmed platter.

7. 7

   Toss the foie gras

   Cut the cold raw foie gras into eight rounds about ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick with a small round cutter. Season lightly with salt and white pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a broad pan until its foam subsides, then toss the rounds in it for 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until lightly coloured while the centres remain soft. If the foie gras begins melting rather than colouring, lift every piece out, chill them for 10 minutes, wipe the pan, and continue over slightly lower heat. Keep the finished rounds warm for only a few minutes.

8. 8

   Finish the Allemande

   Warm the prepared Allemande gently, stirring constantly, and add the truffle essence with the minced truffle trimmings. It should reach a nappant consistency, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon while still flowing in a broad ribbon. If it is too tight, whisk in reserved poaching stock one tablespoon at a time. Never let it boil. If the sauce begins to look grainy, remove it from the heat, whisk in the cold cream, and pass it through a fine sieve. Hold it warm over barely heated water.

9. 9

   Dish the Régence

   Set the poularde on a large warmed oval platter and coat it completely with enough truffled Allemande to leave an even ivory mantle; send the remaining sauce to the table separately. Arrange the garnishes around it in distinct small heaps: oval mousseline quenelles, white curled cockscombs, foie gras rounds, grooved white mushrooms, and olive-shaped truffles. Place one round truffle-decorated quenelle at either end of the platter. Carve through the breast and its crayfish mousseline filling together, spooning over more sauce as each portion is served. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a plump young hen raised for tenderness and fat cover. If your butcher cannot supply one, choose a broad-breasted air-chilled chicken of the same weight. Technique first: a careful poach matters more than the label on the bird.
• •The crayfish purée must be thick and cold. Plain cooked crayfish tail meat may be puréed and passed through a fine sieve when a prepared purée is unavailable; don't replace it with a tomato-seasoned bisque or shellfish paste, which changes both the flavour and the mousseline's balance.
• •"Mousselines" in the glossary means small individual mouldings, enough for one person. Two spoons supply the honest home mould; elaborate metal forms add work without improving the quenelle.
• •Prepared cockscombs are a specialist ingredient. Buy them already cleaned, blanched, and curled. If they cannot be found, leave that small heap absent rather than disguising another ingredient as one; the remaining prescribed garnishes still carry the Régence character.
• •Use truffle juice from preserved whole truffles when fresh truffles are beyond the market. Synthetic truffle oil overwhelms the Allemande and cannot provide the olive-shaped garnish this dish requires.
• •Pour a white Burgundy with enough body for the foie gras and Allemande, or Champagne with a firm dry finish. The sauce is rich, so the wine should bring freshness rather than more sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the mousseline forcemeat of chicken up to 6 hours ahead and keep it covered at or below 4°C (40°F). Fold in the crayfish purée only when you are ready to stuff the poularde.
• •The truffles, mushrooms, and prepared cockscombs can be trimmed earlier in the day. Keep the truffle covered, refrigerate the cockscombs, and hold the raw grooved mushrooms in cold acidulated water until cooking.
• •The quenelles may be poached up to 3 hours ahead, chilled promptly, and rewarmed gently in reserved chicken stock. Don't boil them during reheating.
• •Have the prepared Allemande ready close to serving and hold it over barely warm water. Its underlying velouté may wait, but the finished liaison dislikes prolonged heat.
• •The poularde may be stuffed up to 4 hours before poaching if kept thoroughly chilled. Don't hold a raw stuffed bird overnight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 700g)