Chef Juliette
Filets
Filets de volaille sautés teach the discipline of even cutting and last-minute cooking: flour lightly, gild quickly in clarified butter, and serve before a tender chicken breast has time to harden.
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Suprêmes de Volaille Boistelle
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1588, Suprêmes de Volaille Boistelle, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
The mushrooms supply the poaching liquor and the sauce: stuffed chicken suprêmes cooked gently over a raw mince, then crowned around that mushroom bed under glossy butter and lemon.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
50 min
Active Time
40 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Suprêmes de Volaille Boistelle (stuffed chicken breast fillets poached over mushrooms) teaches a rare kind of confidence: the mushrooms give up every drop of liquid the dish needs. Add no stock, no wine, and no cream to the pan. The moisture drawn from the raw mushrooms becomes both poaching liquor and, once mounted with butter and lemon, the sauce. That is the one true thing to know before you touch a pan.
The original entry assumed a ready bowl of mousseline forcemeat, a covered vegetable-pan, a saucier to finish the liquor, and enough hands to trim a crown of identical hearts. It did not call for the stockpot or salamander, and neither belongs here. Four suprêmes fit a snug lidded sauté pan; their tenderloins and trimmings become the mousseline in a food processor, while a small saucepan does the saucier's work. The exact timbale and brigade-perfect trimming are scaffolding, so a warm round platter and four neatly shaped breasts take their place. The cold mousseline, mushroom-only liquor, slow poach, and butter emulsion are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Keep the mousseline cold enough to remain smooth, then seal the pan closely enough that the mushroom liquor cannot escape. If either falters, ça se rattrape in the method. When everything is right, the chicken stays ivory and succulent, the mushrooms settle into a savoury centre, and the sauce gleams rather than swims. The close, gentle poach is the step that decides it.
Suprêmes de Volaille Boistelle belongs to the Paris grand-kitchen repertoire of named poultry preparations, not to one of France's regional farmhouse tables. Its distinguishing practice is unusually spare: mushrooms flavour the mousseline and form the poaching bed, while their own moisture supplies the cooking liquor. Contrary to the pale richness many cooks expect from a classical chicken dish, the finish contains neither velouté nor cream, only that mushroom liquor mounted with butter, sharpened with lemon, and presented in a formal crown.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large boneless, skinless chicken breasts with tenderloins attached
Quantity
4 (about 1¾ pounds / 800 g total)
kept very cold; reserve ½ cup (120 ml / 75 g) tenderloin and trimmings for the mousseline
white button mushrooms for the stuffing
Quantity
¾ cup loosely packed (180 ml / 60 g)
peeled and roughly chopped
white button mushrooms for the poaching bed
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 120 g)
peeled and very finely minced
lightly beaten egg white
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g), from 1 large egg
heavy cream
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g)
very cold
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
divide 1 tablespoon for the pan and 2 tablespoons into cold cubes for the sauce
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
2¼ teaspoons (11 ml / 11 g)
divided
fine salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
ground white pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
divided
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 1 g)
finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large boneless, skinless chicken breasts with tenderloins attachedkept very cold; reserve ½ cup (120 ml / 75 g) tenderloin and trimmings for the mousseline | 4 (about 1¾ pounds / 800 g total) |
| white button mushrooms for the stuffingpeeled and roughly chopped | ¾ cup loosely packed (180 ml / 60 g) |
| white button mushrooms for the poaching bedpeeled and very finely minced | 1½ cups (360 ml / 120 g) |
| lightly beaten egg white | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g), from 1 large egg |
| heavy creamvery cold | ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) |
| unsalted butterdivide 1 tablespoon for the pan and 2 tablespoons into cold cubes for the sauce | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| fresh lemon juicedivided | 2¼ teaspoons (11 ml / 11 g) |
| fine saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| ground white pepperdivided | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Food processor with metal blade
- •11-inch (28 cm) shallow ovenproof sauté pan with a tight lid
- •Small saucepan and whisk
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Parchment paper
Instructions
- 1
Shape the suprêmes
Keep the chicken cold while you work. Remove the tenderloins, then trim enough meat from the thick, uneven edges to collect ½ cup (120 ml / 75 g) for the mousseline. Lay each suprême smooth-side up with its narrow end toward you; round the two shoulders at the broad end and taper the lower end to suggest a heart, keeping the trimmings. Cut a deep horizontal pocket through the thick side without piercing the other edges. Press each breast gently between sheets of parchment until its thickness is even, but do not pound it thin.
- 2
Make the mousseline
Pulse the ¾ cup (180 ml / 60 g) mushrooms into a damp raw purée, neither coarse nor watery, then scrape it into a cold bowl. Wipe the processor clean and chill its bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Process the reserved chicken with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and a pinch of white pepper until the meat becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process again. Add 3 tablespoons of the cold cream in small additions, scraping down between each, and reserve the final tablespoon. If the paste loses its sheen or looks grainy, it has warmed. Stop, chill the bowl for 10 minutes, then pulse in the reserved cream a teaspoon at a time. Ça se rattrape. When the mousseline is smooth and cold, measure its volume and fold in exactly half that volume of raw mushroom purée.
Poach a teaspoon of mousseline in barely simmering water until its centre reaches 165°F (74°C), then taste it. Correct the salt and white pepper before stuffing the chicken; raw poultry forcemeat is never tasted uncooked. - 3
Stuff and season
Divide the mushroom mousseline among the four pockets, filling them generously but leaving a clean border so the paste cannot squeeze out. Press out trapped air and close each pocket; secure a stubborn opening with a wooden toothpick. If a breast tears, do not discard it. Set the torn side downward against the mushroom bed and the mousseline will firm as it poaches. Season the suprêmes with ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice, then chill them while the oven heats.
- 4
Build the mushroom bed
Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Rub a snug 11-inch (28 cm) shallow ovenproof sauté pan and a sheet of parchment with 1 tablespoon (14 g) butter. Spread the 1½ cups (360 ml / 120 g) minced raw mushrooms evenly across the pan, then season them with ½ teaspoon salt, the remaining white pepper, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Nestle the suprêmes seam-side down on top. Lay the buttered parchment directly over the chicken and clamp on the lid, or seal the pan tightly with foil. Add no stock or wine. The raw mushrooms and close cover must make the liquor.
- 5
Poach without colour
Set the covered pan in the oven and poach slowly for 25 to 35 minutes. Check after 20 minutes: the chicken should remain pale, the mushrooms should settle, and clear, fragrant liquor should gather beneath them without hard boiling. Cook until the centre of the mousseline reaches 165°F (74°C). If the mushroom bed begins to catch before any liquor appears, lower the oven to 300°F (150°C), reseal the cover, and tip the pan so the first juices wet the dry spot. If it remains dry, add 1 tablespoon of hot water to prevent scorching; this is rescue, not the intended liquor, and a snugger cover prevents it next time.
- 6
Monter au beurre
Transfer the suprêmes to a warm plate and cover them loosely with the parchment. Spoon the mushrooms into the centre of a warmed round serving platter, leaving their liquor behind. Strain the liquor and any juices from the resting chicken into a small saucepan. If a loose cover has left you more than ⅓ cup (80 ml), reduce it gently to about ¼ cup (60 ml); otherwise, do not reduce away its fresh mushroom character. Bring it just to a simmer, then remove it from the heat. Monter au beurre, finish by whisking in the 2 tablespoons (28 g) cold butter one cube at a time, then add the final ¼ teaspoon lemon juice. Never boil the sauce after the butter goes in. If it separates into oily beads, put 1 teaspoon cold water in a clean saucepan and whisk the broken sauce into it gradually. Ça se rattrape.
- 7
Form the crown
Remove any toothpicks and arrange the suprêmes around the mushrooms in a crown, with their pointed ends facing outward. Spoon the glossy sauce over the chicken, letting a little run into the mushroom centre, then finish with the chopped parsley. Bring the platter straight to the table while the emulsion still shines. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use small white button mushrooms and peel them as the original preparation directs. Brown mushrooms darken the liquor, while heavily washed mushrooms bring outside water to a dish whose whole character depends on the liquid released from the mushrooms themselves.
- •Cold is the discipline behind mousseline. Chill the chicken, cream, processor bowl, and blade; a warm forcemeat turns grainy because its fat and liquid can no longer hold together.
- •Choose four breasts of similar size so the stuffed centres finish together. An instant-read thermometer is the honest home equivalent of a brigade cook judging a whole pan by touch, and it protects both the mousseline and the breast around it.
- •Serve with buttered rice or pommes duchesse, something quiet enough to catch the mushroom liquor without competing with it. A dry white Burgundy or a firm dry Chenin Blanc has enough body for the butter and enough freshness for the lemon.
- •The finished sauce waits for no one. Warm the platter and gather the table before mounting the butter; reheating the completed emulsion over strong heat will split it and tighten the chicken.
Advance Preparation
- •The mushroom mousseline can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead, pressed under parchment, covered, and kept very cold.
- •The suprêmes can be shaped and stuffed up to 4 hours before cooking. Keep them covered in the cold and season their exteriors shortly before they enter the pan.
- •Peel the mushrooms earlier in the day if useful, but mince and purée them within 30 minutes of cooking so they retain their moisture and pale colour.
- •Do not complete the butter sauce ahead. The mushroom liquor can wait briefly, but monter au beurre only when the platter is assembled and the table is ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 225g)
Calories
380 calories
Total Fat
19 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
185 mg
Sodium
1280 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
47 g
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