Crêtes et Rognons de Coq

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two 3-quart nonreactive bowls
• •4-quart nonreactive saucepan
• •Clean rough-weave kitchen towel reserved for food
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Begin the cold soak

   Put the crêtes and rognons in separate nonreactive bowls and cover them generously with cold water. Refrigerate for 3 hours, changing the water every hour, until it remains nearly clear. Keep the bowls cold throughout; this soaking draws away blood without warming delicate poultry offal or allowing its surface to dry.

   Use separate bowls because the crêtes require skinning and further whitening while the rognons need only their cold soak. Combining them now creates needless sorting later.
2. 2

   Loosen the skins

   Transfer the soaked crêtes to a 4-quart nonreactive saucepan and cover them with fresh cold water. Warm the pan slowly to 100 to 110°F (38 to 43°C), when the water feels distinctly lukewarm but shows no movement. Drain immediately, then rub the crêtes firmly in small batches inside a clean rough-weave towel until their thin outer skins roll away. If patches cling, do not turn up the heat. Ça se rattrape: return only those crêtes to fresh lukewarm water for 2 minutes, drain, and rub again. Work within 10 minutes, then return them at once to cold water in the refrigerator.

   Boiling fixes the skin to the folds and begins toughening the points. Lukewarm water, not simmering water, is the whole technique.
3. 3

   Trim and whiten

   With a small sharp knife, trim away ragged tissue and any dark or clotted patches at the base of each crête, preserving its points and natural outline. Cover the cleaned crêtes with abundant fresh cold water and refrigerate for about 2 hours, changing the water every 30 minutes, until they are evenly ivory. Keep the rognons covered with fresh cold water in their separate bowl until the cooking liquor is ready. The goal is clean colour, not bleaching, so stop once the water stays clear and the crêtes look pale throughout.

4. 4

   Poach in blanc

   Drain the crêtes thoroughly. Pour the very light Special Court-bouillon, or Blanc (No. 167) into the clean saucepan and whisk as it comes to its first full boil so its flour remains suspended. Lower in the crêtes immediately, then reduce the heat and hold the liquid at the barest tremble, about 180 to 190°F (82 to 88°C). Partially cover and poach for 60 to 90 minutes, turning them gently once or twice, until a skewer enters the thick base with little resistance while the points still hold their shape. If the blanc forms lumps, lift out the crêtes, whisk the liquid smooth off the heat, and return them. If it becomes too thick to circulate, loosen it with a little boiling water.

5. 5

   Add the rognons

   Drain the rognons and add them 8 to 10 minutes before the crêtes are fully tender. Keep the blanc at the same bare tremble until the rognons are plump, opaque through the centre, and register 165°F (74°C) in the largest piece. They enter late because their tender tissue cooks quickly; adding them with the crêtes would make them tight and grainy.

6. 6

   Drain and serve

   Lift the crêtes and rognons carefully with a slotted spoon and let the excess blanc fall away. Divide them among four warmed shallow plates, allowing 6 crêtes and 4 rognons per person, and moisten them with only enough strained cooking liquor to keep their surfaces supple. Do not reduce the blanc or ladle it as a sauce; its work was to protect colour and texture. Serve at once as a delicate offal course, or carry the prepared pieces into the composed dish that calls for them. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order from a specialist poultry or offal purveyor and explain exactly what you need. Trade terminology varies, so confirm whether rognons de coq means the small internal reproductive glands described by the classical poultry larder rather than another bird organ.
• •Fresh crêtes should be deep red before preparation, moist but not slimy, with intact points and no sour smell. Ask for them unpeeled if you intend to follow this entry exactly; commercially peeled combs have already passed through part of the method.
• •Do not substitute chicken livers or gizzards. Both are useful ingredients, but neither has the gelatinous resilience of a crête or the tender texture of a rognon, and the preparation would become another dish.
• •The cooking liquor is a protective medium, not the final sauce. Its pale flour-and-acid structure keeps these ingredients ivory while they tenderize, which ordinary stock cannot do without colouring them.
• •Serve a dry white wine with firm acidity and modest oak. The dish is subtle, so a heavily aromatic or sweet bottle walks over it.

Advance Preparation

• •The initial soaking, skinning, trimming, and whitening can be completed the day before. Keep the cleaned crêtes fully submerged in fresh cold water under refrigeration and cook them within 24 hours.
• •The fully cooked crêtes and rognons can be cooled promptly in a little strained blanc, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Reheat them gently in the same liquid without allowing it to boil.
• •Do not freeze the cooked pieces. Freezing damages the crêtes’ gelatinous texture and can make the rognons release water when reheated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 205g)