Mousselines de Volaille à la Patti

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •7-cup or larger food processor
• •Sturdy fine-mesh sieve and flexible scraper
• •Large mixing bowl with a second bowl for an ice bath
• •12-inch / 30 cm wide sauté pan for poaching
• •Two medium saucepans
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two matching tablespoons for shaping
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Make crayfish butter

   Remove the crayfish tail meat and refrigerate it promptly for another dish. Pulse the shells until coarsely broken, then combine them with the softened butter in a small saucepan. Warm over the lowest heat for 15 minutes, stirring often; the butter should turn deep coral and smell distinctly of crayfish, but the shells must never fry or brown. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing firmly to recover the colored butter. Measure about 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) for the sauce and keep it cool. Wash the processor bowl and blade thoroughly, dry them, then chill both before making the farce.

   Heat extracts the shell color and flavor into the butter, but browning makes it bitter. Keep the flame low enough that the shells merely murmur in the fat.
2. 2

   Build the suprême

   Melt the roux butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for 2 minutes without allowing it to color. This pale roux, butter and flour cooked together, gives sauce suprême its body. Reserve ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) of the chicken stock for the truffle, then whisk the remaining stock into the roux a little at a time. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, whisking and skimming as needed. Add all but 2 tablespoons of the sauce cream and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes. Strain, press parchment directly against its surface, and hold it warm. Keep the remaining cold cream for the final adjustment or rescue.

3. 3

   Make the cold farce

   Set a mixing bowl over ice. Put the chilled chicken, 1¼ teaspoons of the fine salt, half the white pepper, and the nutmeg into the cold processor bowl. Pulse until finely minced, add the cold egg whites, then process only until the mixture becomes smooth, sticky, and satin-like. Scrape it immediately into a sturdy fine sieve and press it through with a flexible scraper, leaving sinew behind. Return the sieved farce to the bowl over ice. Beat in three-quarters of the cold mousseline cream in four additions, making certain each addition disappears before the next goes in. Cover and chill for 20 minutes.

   If the farce begins looking oily, loose, or curdled, stop at once and chill it for 10 minutes before beating again with one spoonful of cold cream. Ça se rattrape. Heat is the culprit, so adding flour or breadcrumbs only hides the failure and changes the mousseline.
4. 4

   Finish the garnishes

   Bring half the water to a boil with half the coarse salt. Blanch the asparagus tips until tender at the base but still bright and distinct, 2 to 4 minutes depending on thickness. Drain them very well, then roll them over gentle heat with the asparagus butter until every tip gleams and the butter clings rather than puddles. For the truffle, reduce the reserved ¼ cup of chicken stock in a small pan to 2 tablespoons. Whisk in the truffle butter, add the slices, and turn them gently in the glaze for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat before their perfume is cooked away.

5. 5

   Test and shape

   Heat a small cupful of the remaining poaching water until it barely quivers. Drop in a teaspoon of farce and poach it for 2 minutes, then taste. It should be tender, juicy, and sufficiently seasoned. If it is rubbery, beat in the remaining mousseline cream one tablespoon at a time and test again; if it softens or breaks apart, chill the farce for 10 minutes before retesting. Adjust with the remaining fine salt and white pepper. Following the Mousselines Alexandra method, use two tablespoons dipped in cold water to shape 8 smooth, plump ovals. Set them on a dampened tray and keep them cold.

6. 6

   Poach without boiling

   Heat the remaining water with the remaining coarse salt in a wide pan to 175 to 180°F (79 to 82°C). The surface should tremble without bubbling. Slide in 4 mousselines, cover loosely, and poach for 8 to 10 minutes, turning them carefully halfway through, until they feel resilient and reach 165°F (74°C) at the center. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, drain on a clean towel, and repeat with the rest. If one develops ragged edges or starts to split, pull the pan off the heat immediately and let the water settle before continuing. Ça se rattrape: the mousseline remains tender, and its sauce will cover the small scar. Hold the cooked mousselines covered for no longer than 15 minutes.

7. 7

   Mount the sauce

   Bring the sauce suprême back just below a simmer, then remove it from the heat. Whisk in the lemon juice followed by the measured crayfish butter, a small piece at a time, until the sauce becomes glossy and coral-ivory. This is monter au beurre, mounting the sauce with butter, and it must happen off the heat. Taste for salt and white pepper. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with a spoonful of hot water; if it turns oily or splits, whisk the reserved cold cream in a clean bowl and add the broken sauce to it gradually. Ça se rattrape. Never boil the sauce after the crayfish butter goes in.

8. 8

   Arrange and serve

   Warm a broad oval serving platter. Heap the butter-bound asparagus tips in the center and arrange the 8 mousselines around them in a close ring. Spoon the crayfish sauce suprême generously over each mousseline, letting a little collect around their bases, then lay the glazed truffle slices over the asparagus exactly as the source directs. Serve the remaining sauce in a warm boat and bring the platter to the table at once. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but it does require serving this while the sauce still gleams. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Chicken breast is correct here because the cream supplies richness and the pale flesh keeps the farce delicate. Trim every strip of sinew before weighing it; the sieve catches what remains, but careful trimming saves both time and chicken.
• •Buy cooked crayfish with their shells. Peeled tail meat cannot make crayfish butter, and coloring plain butter with paprika gives color without the flavor that defines à la Patti.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when available, but a good whole preserved truffle is the classical pantry's honest answer out of season. Add a spoonful of its liquor to the glazing stock and reduce them together. Truffle oil has no place here.
• •Out of asparagus season, use sound frozen asparagus tips rather than thick, woody fresh spears. Thaw and dry them carefully, then warm them directly in butter without blanching.
• •Pour a structured white Burgundy or a brut Champagne. The wine needs enough breadth for cream and butter, with acidity to clear the palate between spoonfuls.

Advance Preparation

• •The crayfish butter can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated airtight, or frozen for up to 2 months. Bring it only to cool room temperature before mounting the sauce.
• •The sauce suprême can be made through its cream reduction 1 day ahead. Chill it promptly, reheat gently, and add the lemon and crayfish butter only at serving time.
• •The sieved chicken farce can be held over ice in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. Keep it covered and shape it directly from the cold.
• •The asparagus may be blanched up to 6 hours ahead, chilled, and dried. Bind it with butter just before serving. Glaze the truffle and poach the mousselines as close to the meal as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 420g)