Poularde Trianon

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5 to 6-quart snug stockpot with lid
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Bowl set over an ice bath
• •Small piping bag with ¼-inch round tip
• •Two soup spoons for shaping quenelles
• •12-inch wide sauté pan
• •Medium saucepan and small glazing pan
• •Warm oval serving platter
• •Short food-safe stainless garnish skewer
• •Kitchen twine

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the poularde

   Pat the poularde dry. Season its cavity and exterior with 2 teaspoons of the salt and a light dusting of white pepper, tuck the wings underneath, and truss the legs close to the body. Stud the onion halves with the cloves. Put the stock, carrot, leek, celery, onion, bouquet garni, and another teaspoon of salt in a snug stockpot, then bring the liquid to 185°F (85°C). Lower in the poularde breast-side up; the stock should just cover it. If it does not, use a narrower pot rather than diluting the stock with a great quantity of water.

   A snug pot is the home equivalent of the brigade stockpot. It keeps the bird submerged with less stock and leaves you a concentrated poaching liquor for the sauce.
2. 2

   Poach at a tremble

   Keep the stock between 175°F and 185°F (79°C and 85°C), with only a faint movement at the surface. Cover the pot slightly ajar and poach for 60 to 75 minutes, turning the poularde once if its breast is not fully submerged. It is ready when the thickest part of the breast reaches 165°F (74°C) and the inner thigh reaches at least 175°F (79°C). A boil toughens the flesh and can tear the pale skin. If the skin begins to split, lower the heat at once and leave the bird still; ça se rattrape. Present the torn side downward and brush it with the buttery truffle glaze before serving. Lift the cooked poularde onto a warm tray, cover loosely, and rest it while you finish the garnishes. Strain the stock and keep it hot.

3. 3

   Pipe the foie gras

   While the poularde poaches, work the foie gras and its tablespoon of cream through a fine sieve until completely smooth. Transfer the purée to a small piping bag fitted with a ¼-inch round tip and chill it until firm enough to hold a line. If it becomes too stiff to pipe, let the bag stand for five minutes at room temperature; adding unnecessary cream would make the filling run into the poaching liquor.

4. 4

   Make the mousseline

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for ten minutes and set a clean bowl over ice. Pulse the cold chicken with 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and the nutmeg until it becomes a sticky, cohesive paste. Reserve 1 teaspoon of egg white and 2 tablespoons of the cold cream, then process in the remaining egg white. With the motor running, pour in the remaining cream in a thin stream and stop as soon as the mousseline looks smooth and glossy. Press it once through a fine sieve into the iced bowl. Poach a teaspoonful in hot stock and taste it. If it is firm and springy, fold in a little reserved cream; if it frays or feels loose, fold in the reserved egg white and chill for twenty minutes. If the mixture looks greasy or curdled, it became warm. Stop, spread the bowl over ice for ten minutes, then pulse briefly with one spoonful of reserved cream. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Fill before poaching

   Line a chilled tray with parchment. Divide the mousseline into 13 portions of about 1½ ounces (42 g) each. With two soup spoons dipped in ice water, spread half of one portion inside a spoon and make a shallow channel along its length. Pipe about 1½ teaspoons of foie gras purée into that channel, cover it completely with the remaining mousseline, and pass the mixture between the spoons to form a smooth oval quenelle. The seal must be complete, with no foie gras showing. Pipe the purée in now, before poaching, never afterward. Make 12 plain quenelles for the platter. On the thirteenth, press a small diamond of salted tongue flush into the upper surface for the hatelet. Chill all 13 for fifteen minutes.

6. 6

   Build sauce suprême

   Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook this blond roux for two minutes without letting it color. Gradually whisk in 2 cups (480 ml) of the hot strained poaching stock, adding each splash only after the last has become smooth. Simmer gently for twelve minutes, skimming if necessary. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the sauce cream, add the rest, and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon in an even ivory veil, about eight to ten minutes. Strain it into a clean saucepan. Off the heat, whisk in 2 tablespoons of cold butter and the reserved cream, then correct the seasoning with the remaining salt and white pepper. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with hot stock; if thin, reduce it before adding the finishing butter. If butter beads appear, take the pan off the heat and whisk in a tablespoon of cold stock. Ça se rattrape. Hold the sauce warm without boiling.

7. 7

   Poach the quenelles

   Bring 2 inches (5 cm) of strained stock to 175°F (79°C) in a wide sauté pan. Lower in the plain quenelles in two batches and poach for 9 to 12 minutes, turning them once, until they feel springy and the chicken mantle reaches 165°F (74°C). Poach the tongue-decorated quenelle separately with its decoration facing upward, spooning hot stock over the top instead of turning it. Never boil them. If the first quenelle leaks foie gras, chill the remaining pieces, patch the opening with a smear of cold mousseline, and poach again at gentler heat. Hold the finished quenelles in clean stock around 160°F (71°C) for no more than fifteen minutes.

8. 8

   Glaze the ornaments

   Groove the mushroom cap by rotating it against the tip of a small knife and cutting shallow curved channels from center to rim. Cooking well is not carving fancy, so keep the cuts simple and do not pierce the cap. Put ½ cup (120 ml) of strained stock and the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan. Simmer the mushroom cap gently until tender, about five minutes. Add the medium truffle for the final three minutes and the four small truffles for the final minute, merely warming fresh truffles for thirty seconds. Lift everything out, reduce the liquid to a glossy glaze, then roll the mushroom and truffles through it.

9. 9

   Dress the hatelet

   Thread the tongue-decorated quenelle, the medium glazed truffle, and the grooved mushroom cap onto a short food-safe metal skewer, handling the quenelle gently so it does not split. This is the hatelet. If the quenelle cracks, set the three elements together at the neck end of the platter and place the skewer behind them; the ornament still reads correctly and the food remains intact. Insert the assembled hatelet shallowly into the upper breast only after the poularde is on its platter, and remove it before carving.

10. 10

    Build the Trianon ring

    Remove the twine and set the poularde in the center of a warmed oval platter. Brush its surface lightly with the remaining truffle glaze. Arrange the 12 plain quenelles in four generous heaps of three around the bird, then place one small whole glazed truffle in each gap between the heaps. Crown the poularde with the hatelet. Pour the sauce suprême into a warmed sauceboat and bring it to the table at the same moment, passing it generously without hiding the ring of quenelles and truffles. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a young hen raised for a particularly plump, tender finish. If your butcher cannot find one, choose a compact, well-fleshed chicken within the stated weight. The sauce and garnishes carry enough richness that an enormous roasting bird only makes the poaching awkward.
• •Fresh black truffles are magnificent when the season gives them honestly. At other times, good whole preserved truffles are the classical pantry's answer. Use their packing liquid in place of an equal amount of poaching stock if it tastes clean, but do not replace the whole truffles with oil. Their shape is part of the Trianon presentation.
• •The processor, chicken, egg white, cream, and receiving bowl must all stay cold. Warm mousseline becomes greasy and coarse; cold mousseline poaches into a fine, tender cushion around the foie gras.
• •The hatelet is ceremonial and must be removed before carving. A short stainless garnish skewer is the honest home equivalent of the ornate silver original; do not use a painted or decorative skewer that is not made for contact with food.
• •Serve with a full-bodied white Burgundy or brut Champagne. The wine needs enough structure for foie gras and truffle, but enough freshness to keep the cream sauce lively.

Advance Preparation

• •The foie gras purée can be made up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated in its piping bag. Let it soften only enough to pipe before filling the quenelles.
• •The quenelles can be filled and poached one day ahead. Cool them promptly in strained stock, refrigerate them covered in that stock, then rewarm at about 160°F (71°C) without boiling.
• •The sauce can be made through the stock-and-roux stage one day ahead. Chill it quickly, then reheat gently, add the cream, reduce to the proper consistency, and whisk in the final butter just before serving.
• •The poularde may be trussed and seasoned up to 12 hours ahead. Keep it uncovered in the cold, then let it stand at room temperature for twenty minutes while the stock heats.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 510g)