Poularde Stanley

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart (5.7-liter) pot with lid
• •Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
• •Immersion blender
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Kitchen twine
• •Small saucepan
• •Warm sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rice

   Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the rinsed rice and cook until tender but still separate, about 10 to 12 minutes, then drain thoroughly and spread it on a plate to release excess moisture. This preliminary cooking is the necessary home adjustment: a young chicken poaches before raw rice can cook safely inside it.

   The rice must be dry before it enters the bird. Wet rice dilutes the stuffing and leaves the cavity pasty.
2. 2

   Prepare the stuffing

   Melt the stuffing butter over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Cook until they release their liquid, that liquid evaporates, and the edges begin to color, about 6 minutes. Fold in the rice and the truffle cut in julienne-fashion, meaning fine match-shaped strips, then season with ½ teaspoon of the salt and half the white pepper. Cool completely. The truffle should perfume the rice, not disappear into a mince.

3. 3

   Fill the poularde

   Pat the chicken dry inside and out. Spoon the cooled stuffing loosely into the cavity, leaving room for the rice to settle, then secure the opening with kitchen twine and tie the legs together. Do not pack it hard. A compressed stuffing heats slowly and can force the breast to overcook before the center is safe.

4. 4

   Blanch the onions

   Prepare the sliced onions by Blanchings (No. 273): lower them into a large pot of boiling water, return the water to the boil, and cook for 2 minutes to soften their pungency without cooking away their character. Drain, cool in cold water until barely lukewarm, then drain very well. This is not brigade scaffolding. Blanching keeps the finished cullis pale and gentle, so it stays.

5. 5

   Begin the poach

   Spread the blanched onions across the bottom of a snug, heavy pot and season them with the curry powder. Set the stuffed chicken breast-side up on top, then pour in enough stock to come about halfway up the bird, beginning with the measured 3 cups. Bring the liquid slowly to a bare tremble over medium heat. Cover with a lid and lower the heat at once.

6. 6

   Poach very gently

   Poach the chicken at the faintest tremble, turning it carefully onto one side after 20 minutes and onto the other side 20 minutes later. Continue until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F (74°C) and the center of the stuffing also reaches 165°F (74°C), usually 60 to 75 minutes total. Never let the liquid boil. If it does, pull the pot off the heat, uncover it for a minute, and return it over a lower flame. Ça se rattrape before the breast tightens.

7. 7

   Rest the chicken

   Lift the chicken onto a warm platter, tip any juices from its cavity back into the pot, and cover it loosely. Let it rest for 15 minutes while you finish the cullis. Skim the clear fat from the cooking liquor, but keep every onion and every spoonful of the savory liquid beneath it.

8. 8

   Pass the cullis

   Simmer the onions and cooking liquor uncovered until the onions are completely soft and the liquid has reduced to about 2 cups, 12 to 18 minutes. Purée with an immersion blender, then rub the mixture firmly through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. A tammy cloth served the old kitchen, but a sturdy fine sieve gives one cook the honest equivalent. Press patiently and scrape the smooth purée from the underside.

9. 9

   Reduce with velouté

   Whisk the Velouté and the ⅔ cup cream into the sieved onion cullis. Bring it to a gentle simmer and reduce, stirring often and scraping the corners, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon in an opaque layer, about 10 to 15 minutes. If the base catches, do not scrape the scorched film into the sauce. Pour the clean upper portion into another pan and continue over lower heat. Ça se rattrape.

10. 10

    Sieve once more

    Pass the reduced cullis through the clean fine-mesh sieve a second time. Do not replace this with another spin of the blender. The blades can make the onion smooth, but only the sieve removes every fibrous trace; the second sieving is the whole refinement of Poularde Stanley.

11. 11

    Finish the sauce

    Return the sauce to low heat and whisk in the final ⅓ cup cream. Warm it without boiling, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time. Taste and add the remaining salt and white pepper as needed. If the cullis has become too stiff, loosen it with hot stock one tablespoon at a time; if it is thin, simmer it briefly before adding the butter.

12. 12

    Carve and serve

    Remove the twine. Spoon the stuffing into a warmed serving dish, carve the chicken into breast and leg portions, and arrange them over the rice. Nap with enough cullis to glaze the meat and pool generously beneath it, then send the remaining sauce in a warm sauceboat. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a chicken no larger than about 3½ pounds (1.6 kg). A true poularde is plumper and fattier, but the smaller bird lets the stuffing and meat finish together on a home stove without sacrificing the breast.
• •Use a mild, fragrant curry powder and measure it with restraint. The source asks for a pinch. It should warm the onion and truffle from behind, never turn the sauce yellow or announce itself before the chicken.
• •Fresh black truffle is magnificent when it is in season. A whole preserved black truffle with its peelings is the classical pantry's honest answer at other times; truffle oil changes the flavor and gives none of the required julienne.
• •A chinois is helpful but unnecessary. Choose the finest strong sieve you own, set it securely over a bowl, and work the cullis through with a flexible spatula. Sieve twice. No shortcut replaces that texture.
• •Serve with a restrained white Burgundy or a mature white wine with enough body for cream and truffle. The curry is a whisper, so the wine needn't wrestle with it.
• •Cool leftovers within 2 hours and refrigerate the chicken, stuffing, and sauce in separate shallow containers for up to 3 days. Reheat the sauce gently, loosening it with stock if needed, and warm the chicken covered so it stays moist.

Advance Preparation

• •The rice and mushroom base can be cooked up to 1 day ahead, cooled promptly, and refrigerated. Fold in the truffle before stuffing the chicken so its perfume stays clear.
• •The onions can be prepared by Blanchings (No. 273) several hours ahead, drained very well, covered, and refrigerated.
• •The Velouté may be ready before the chicken goes on the stove. Hold it chilled, then measure the required amount when the first-sieved cullis is ready.
• •Poularde Stanley is best poached and sauced close to serving. If dinner slips, keep the rested bird covered in a warm place for no more than 20 minutes and hold the finished sauce over barely warm water, never at a simmer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)