Soufflé de Volaille with Raw Meat

Soufflé de Volaille (raw chicken mousseline soufflé) teaches a ruthless little truth: its height is borrowed air, and once the stiff whites meet the raw mousseline, you fold, never beat. The finished timbales should rise pale and tender, with faintly butter-gold crowns and centers as delicate as quenelles.

The book assumed two pounds of Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) already cold in a brigade pantry, four whites waiting at the pastry bench, and rows of identical metal timbales filled by many hands. No saucier, stockpot, or salamander stands behind this particular entry; its brigade advantage was prepared forcemeat, cold working conditions, and scale. For one cook, one stove, one evening, the ratio is simply halved: one pound of the finished referenced mousseline, two whites, and four straight-sided ramekins. The large batch and specialized molds are scaffolding and can go. The cold mousseline, stiff whites, careful fold, and moderate oven are the dish and must stay.

Have the oven and molds ready before you begin whipping. This mixture will not wait while you clear a shelf, and the fold is the one step that decides everything: broad turns, a light hand, then straight into the oven.