Suprêmes de Volaille Agnès Sorel

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible scraper
• •Four 4-inch (10 cm), approximately ½-cup (120 ml) oval tartlet moulds or ramekins
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •10-inch (25 cm) lidded sauté pan
• •Small heavy saucepan and whisk
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Round serving platter
• •Small paper cone or narrow-tipped spoon for the glaze

Instructions

1. 1

   Reduce the pale glaze

   Pour 1½ cups (360 ml) of the chicken stock into your smallest saucepan. Hold it at a quiet simmer until it reduces to about 3 tablespoons (45 ml), clear amber and lightly syrupy rather than dark, about 25 minutes. Skim any foam instead of stirring it back in. If it becomes tacky, loosen it immediately with a spoonful of unused stock; the glaze should leave a fine line from a spoon, not pull like caramel. Set it aside and reserve 1 teaspoon of the butter for its final finish.

2. 2

   Toss the mushrooms

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms with a small pinch of salt and toss for 2 to 3 minutes, just until flexible and glossed with butter. Keep them pale. If they release liquid, raise the heat briefly until the pan is dry, because wet mushrooms would loosen the mousseline around them. Spread them on a cold plate and chill completely.

3. 3

   Make the mousseline

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Measure 1 cup (240 ml) of the cold cream for the mousseline, keeping the remaining ¼ cup (60 ml) cold for the sauce. Process the cubed chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon white pepper until smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. With the machine running, pour in three-quarters of the measured mousseline cream in a thin stream, then add the rest gradually until the forcemeat is glossy, soft, and able to hold a rounded peak. Push it once through a fine-mesh sieve for the proper silken texture. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water for 2 minutes. It should be tender and spring softly under a finger. If it is firm, work another spoonful of the withheld mousseline cream into the bowl. If the mixture shows beads of fat or loses its body, it has warmed. Ça se rattrape: stop, nest the bowl over ice for 10 minutes, then pulse briefly with the remaining cold cream, one spoonful at a time. Never try to force a warm mousseline back together.

   Cold is not fuss here. It keeps the chicken proteins able to bind the cream into a light, close mousseline instead of a greasy paste.
4. 4

   Fill the moulds

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Butter four 4-inch (10 cm), roughly ½-cup (120 ml) oval tartlet moulds with 1 tablespoon butter. Spoon mousseline across each base and press it up the sides in an even layer about ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick. Divide the cold mushrooms among the hollow centres, keeping them away from the edges, then cover completely with the remaining mousseline and level the tops. Tap each mould once against a folded towel to settle hidden air pockets. Set the moulds in a deep roasting pan and add hot water to reach halfway up their sides. This is the bain-marie, a hot-water bath that poaches the mousseline gently. Cook for 22 to 28 minutes, until the centres feel just firm and register 160°F (71°C). The water may tremble but must not bubble; if it begins to boil, add a little cool water at once. Lift the moulds from the bath, rest them for 5 minutes, and keep them loosely covered.

5. 5

   Poach the suprêmes

   Begin when the mousselines have been in the oven for about 10 minutes. Season the four suprêmes with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon white pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a lidded sauté pan just large enough to hold them in one layer, then lay them in without browning. Pour 1¼ cups (300 ml) stock around them, bring the liquid only to a tremble, and cover with a round of parchment and the lid. Poach gently for 10 to 14 minutes, according to thickness, until the centres reach 160 to 162°F (71 to 72°C). If the liquid boils, pull the pan off the heat and add a splash of cold reserved stock. Rest the suprêmes covered for 5 minutes and confirm they reach 165°F (74°C). Strain and reserve every drop of the poaching liquor.

6. 6

   Finish sauce Allemande

   Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a clean saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for 2 minutes over gentle heat without allowing the roux to colour. Measure the strained chicken poaching liquor and add enough unused stock to make 2 cups (480 ml). Whisk this liquid into the roux a little at a time, bring it to a bare simmer, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, whisking often, until the velouté coats the back of a spoon. Whisk the egg yolks with the reserved ¼ cup (60 ml) cream. Slowly whisk about one-third of the hot velouté into this liaison, then return everything to the saucepan. Stir over very low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sauce becomes glossy and slightly fuller, but never let it boil. Remove it from the heat, add the lemon juice, and correct the salt and white pepper. If fine egg threads appear, lift the pan from the heat, whisk in a spoonful of cold cream or stock, and strain into a clean warm pan. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with hot stock; if thin, stir it longer over the gentlest heat.

7. 7

   Prepare the garnish

   Cut the truffle into four even round slices. Trim each tongue slice into a narrow band and form it into a neat ring around a truffle slice, overlapping the ends underneath. Keep the garnishes covered at room temperature while the sauce finishes. The red tongue is not a stray flourish: its colour and savoury depth are part of the Agnès Sorel composition.

8. 8

   Build the circle

   Warm a round serving platter. Run a thin knife around the moulds only if necessary, then turn the four mousselines out in a circle. Place one poached suprême squarely on each. Spoon sauce Allemande generously over the chicken and down the sides, allowing it to pool around the bases. Set one truffle slice on the crown of each suprême and fit its red tongue ring around it. Warm the pale meat glaze and whisk in the reserved teaspoon of butter. Using the tip of a teaspoon or a small paper cone, draw a fine thread of glaze around each sauced suprême, following the book's arrangement rather than making a decorative smear. Carry the platter straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use light, unsalted chicken stock. A dark roasted stock turns the sauce muddy and makes the glaze too forceful; this dish depends on poultry flavour with a pale hand.
• •Oval moulds give the canonical silhouette, but four straight-sided ½-cup (120 ml) ramekins are an honest home equivalent. The shape changes slightly. The layered construction and bain-marie do not.
• •A whole preserved black truffle is the classical pantry's answer when fresh truffle is out of season. Drain it, dry it, and cut clean rounds. Truffle oil cannot supply the texture or restrained aroma this garnish requires.
• •Red tongue means tongue cured before cooking, which retains its rosy colour. Plain braised tongue tastes good but turns brown-grey, so use it only knowing that the defining contrast will change. Prosciutto is not an equivalent.
• •Serve the platter with a simple green vegetable in a separate dish. A firm, mineral white Burgundy or dry Champagne has enough freshness for the cream, truffle, and tongue without crowding them.

Advance Preparation

• •The pale meat glaze and butter-tossed mushrooms may be prepared one day ahead and refrigerated separately. Rewarm the glaze gently and keep the mushrooms cold until the moulds are filled.
• •The mousseline may be mixed and packed into its moulds up to 4 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate it immediately, then poach directly from the cold, allowing 3 to 5 additional minutes.
• •The sauce may be made through the velouté stage several hours ahead. Cool and refrigerate it, then reheat gently before adding the yolk-and-cream liaison. Once enriched, it must not return to a boil.
• •Cut the truffle rounds and tongue rings earlier on the day of serving, cover them closely, and bring them to room temperature while the suprêmes poach.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)