Mousselines de Volaille au Paprika

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Four 5-ounce (150 ml) straight-sided ramekins
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Fine-mesh sieve and whisk
• •¼-cup (60 ml) measure for shaping rice timbales
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill and divide chicken

   Put the food processor bowl, blade, and 320 g of cubed chicken in the freezer for 15 minutes. They should become thoroughly cold but not frozen. Slice the remaining 240 g of chicken across the grain into four broad collops, place them between sheets of parchment, and tap them to an even 5 mm thickness. Refrigerate the collops. Brush four 5-ounce (150 ml) ramekins with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

   Temperature decides the mousseline. If the processor bowl feels warm at any point, stop and chill it before continuing.
2. 2

   Make the cold forcemeat

   Process the chilled 320 g of chicken with ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and the nutmeg until it becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process just until absorbed. Add ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) of the cold cream in four additions, pulsing briefly and scraping the bowl between each. The finished forcemeat should be glossy, thick, and able to hold a soft peak. If it turns dull, loose, or grainy, stop immediately, set the processor bowl over ice for 5 minutes, then pulse briefly until it gathers. Ça se rattrape. Poach a teaspoonful in barely trembling water for 2 minutes, taste it, and correct the seasoning. Divide the forcemeat among the buttered ramekins, pressing out air pockets, smooth the tops, cover, and refrigerate.

   The little poached tester is not fuss. It is your only chance to correct the seasoning before four mousselines are committed.
3. 3

   Cook the tomato concassée

   Cut a shallow cross in the base of each tomato and lower them into boiling water for 20 seconds. Cool them in cold water, peel, halve, and remove the seeds, then chop the flesh roughly into a concassée. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat, add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Their loose moisture should evaporate while the pieces retain their shape. Transfer them to a bowl.

4. 4

   Cook the tomato pilaff

   Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small heavy saucepan. Add the onion and cook gently for 3 minutes without coloring. Stir in the rice and cook until every grain is coated and slightly pearly, the classical nacrer stage. Add 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) chicken stock and ½ teaspoon salt, bring to a bare simmer, cover tightly, and cook over the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice gently, fold in the buttered tomato concassée, and correct the salt. Keep it covered and warm. Reserve another tablespoon of butter for greasing the timbale measure.

5. 5

   Build the sauce suprême

   Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this blond roux for 2 minutes without letting it brown. Whisk in the remaining 1¾ cups (420 ml / 420 g) chicken stock a little at a time, scraping into the corners so no flour hides there. Simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, whisking occasionally, then add the remaining ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cream. Simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the sauce reaches nappé, a coating consistency that leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn across the back of a spoon. Season with ¼ teaspoon each salt and white pepper. If it is lumpy, strain it; if too thick, loosen it with stock; if too thin, simmer a little longer. Hold it warm without boiling.

6. 6

   Poach the mousselines

   Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Set the chilled ramekins in a deep roasting pan and pour in just-boiled water to reach halfway up their sides. This bain-marie, the hot-water bath, gives the mousselines the gentle poach they require. Cook for 22 to 28 minutes, until the centers are softly firm and register 165°F (74°C). The water should barely quiver; if it begins bubbling hard, add a little cold water and lower the oven. Lift out the ramekins and let them stand for 3 minutes.

7. 7

   Cook collops and paprika

   Season the four collops with the remaining salt and white pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. When the bubbling quiets, add the collops in one layer and cook for about 90 seconds on each side, just until tender and 165°F (74°C) at the thickest point. Transfer them to a warm plate. Take the skillet off the heat and wait 30 seconds, then add 1 tablespoon butter. When it melts quietly, stir in 2 teaspoons paprika for 10 seconds, only until fragrant and brick-red, and immediately whisk this butter into the sauce suprême. Never let paprika darken. If it smells bitter, discard that spoonful and repeat with the reserved paprika and a teaspoon of the butter intended for the timbale cup. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Unmold and sauce

   Run a thin knife around each ramekin and unmold one mousseline onto each warm plate. Lay a fine collop of suprême over every mousseline, then coat both generously with the paprika sauce suprême, allowing it to pool around the base. Lightly butter a ¼-cup (60 ml) measure, pack it with tomato pilaff, and turn out three small timbales around each mousseline, re-buttering only when the rice begins to cling. Serve at once while the sauce gleams and the mousselines remain tender. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use sweet paprika with a fresh, warm aroma and a vivid brick-red color. Hot or smoked paprika pulls the sauce away from the source dish, while old dusty paprika contributes color without perfume.
• •A good chicken stock is the foundation beneath the cream. Homemade is splendid, but a well-made low-sodium stock is the honest home equivalent to the brigade's pot that never left the fire.
• •Buy the best chicken you comfortably can, then keep it cold and handle it carefully. Technique first, always. A modest breast processed cold makes a finer mousseline than an expensive one allowed to grow warm.
• •Out of season, use good canned whole tomatoes. Drain them well, remove any tough cores, chop them into a concassée, and cook them in butter until their excess moisture has gone.
• •Serve a dry white Burgundy or another full-bodied, fresh white wine. The sauce needs enough acidity beside it, not sweetness and certainly not another layer of smoke.

Advance Preparation

• •The mousseline forcemeat can be made, molded, covered, and refrigerated up to 4 hours before poaching. Keep it properly cold and do not leave raw poultry at room temperature.
• •The sauce can be prepared through the stock reduction a day ahead. Chill it promptly, then reheat gently and add the cream and paprika shortly before serving.
• •The tomato concassée and pilaff can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead. Hold the rice properly hot, or chill it promptly and reheat with a spoonful of stock. Assemble the plates only at serving time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)