Poularde en Chaud-froid à l’Écossaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 to 7-quart heavy pot
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve and clean cloth
• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
• •10-inch (25 cm) deep square porcelain or silver-plated serving dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the poularde

   Set the poularde breast-side up in a pot that holds it closely. Add the cold water, onion, carrot, leek, celery, bouquet garni, peppercorns, and salt. Bring the liquid slowly to its first tremble, skimming away the grey foam as it rises, then hold it between 180 and 185°F (82 and 85°C). Never let it boil; rough heat tightens the breast and clouds the liquor needed for the clear jelly. Poach for 50 to 65 minutes, until both the deepest part of the breast and the thickest part of the thigh register at least 165°F (74°C). Lift the bird onto a rack over a tray, let it drain for 10 minutes, then refrigerate it uncovered until completely cold, no longer than 2 hours before chilling.

   Keep the poularde intact while it cools. Warm breast meat tears under the knife; cold meat gives clean suprêmes and neat collops.
2. 2

   Make reduced chicken jelly

   Strain the poaching liquor through a fine sieve lined with a damp clean cloth, then skim away the visible fat. Boil the clear liquor steadily until reduced to 6 cups (1.4 liters). Taste before reducing farther: it should be deeply chicken-flavored but not aggressively salty. If it has become too salty, loosen it with unsalted water; measured gelatin supplies the set, so there is no prize for concentrating the salt. Reserve 1¼ cups (300 ml) of the ungelatinized liquor for the white chaud-froid sauce. Sprinkle the gelatin over the ½ cup (120 ml) cold water and leave it for 5 minutes, then whisk the softened gelatin into the remaining hot liquor until completely dissolved. Pour the chicken jelly into shallow containers, cool them over ice, and refrigerate. This reduced chicken jelly becomes both binder and aspic.

3. 3

   Prepare the cold garnish

   Hard-boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool them in cold water, peel them, and separate the whites; the yolks are not used here. From the central part of the salted tongue, cut 8 thin oval slices for the serving dish. Dice 3½ ounces (100 g) of the remaining tongue into precise ⅛-inch (3 mm) cubes for the salpicon, then finely chop another 1¾ ounces (50 g) for the colored shower. Dice 3½ ounces (100 g) of the truffle to the same ⅛-inch size for the salpicon and finely chop the remaining 1¾ ounces (50 g). Finely chop the cornichons and egg whites. Keep the oval tongue slices, the two salpicon ingredients, and the four chopped shower ingredients separate and cold.

4. 4

   Raise the suprêmes

   Remove and discard the poularde skin. Run a slim knife down each side of the breastbone and along the ribs to raise the two suprêmes whole. Cut each suprême crosswise into 4 even collops, making 8 pieces in all. Pick the remaining carcass clean of meat, rejecting skin, bone, and gristle, then dice exactly 3½ ounces (100 g) as finely as the tongue and truffle. The remaining poultry meat belongs to another supper; reducing its quantity is what keeps this brigade presentation proportionate for four.

5. 5

   Build the salpicon

   Melt ⅓ cup (80 ml) of the chicken jelly over gentle heat, then cool it until fluid but slightly syrupy. Combine the 3½ ounces (100 g) diced poultry, 3½ ounces (100 g) diced salted tongue, and 3½ ounces (100 g) diced truffle. Fold in just enough jelly to coat and cohere the dice without leaving a puddle. Divide the salpicon among the 8 collops and shape each portion into a smooth, generous dome. If the dice slide apart, the jelly is too warm; chill the bowl for 5 minutes and fold again. If it sets before shaping, stand the bowl briefly in tepid water and stir. Ça se rattrape. Chill the domed collops for 20 minutes.

6. 6

   Cook white chaud-froid

   Melt the butter in a saucepan over gentle heat. Stir in the flour and cook this white roux for 2 minutes without letting it color. Gradually whisk in the reserved 1¼ cups (300 ml) poaching liquor, then simmer gently for 8 minutes, stirring until the raw flour taste is gone. Add the cream and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the sauce falls from the spoon in a broad ribbon. Remove it from the heat and whisk in 1 cup (240 ml) melted chicken jelly, then season with white pepper and only as much salt as it needs. Strain the sauce and stir it over an ice bath until cool, thick, and still pourable. If it runs from a chilled spoon without coating, cool it longer. If it sets in the bowl, warm it over tepid water and whisk until smooth. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Coat while tacky

   Set the chilled collops on a wire rack over a rimmed tray. Combine the finely chopped tongue, truffle, cornichons, and egg whites, then fold in 2 tablespoons (30 ml) barely liquid chicken jelly so the pieces glisten and cling together. Work one collop at a time: spoon the white chaud-froid generously over its dome and sides, then immediately shower it with the chopped mixture while the coating remains tacky. Catch and reuse clean sauce from the tray for any bare patches. If a coating sets before its garnish adheres, brush it with the thinnest film of liquid jelly and sprinkle again. Chill the finished collops for 30 minutes without covering them.

8. 8

   Bind the beans

   Blanch the French beans in well-salted boiling water until tender but still vivid, 3 to 4 minutes, then cool them promptly in ice water and dry them thoroughly. Cut them on a long diagonal into ¾-inch (2 cm) lozenges. Melt ½ cup (120 ml) chicken jelly and cool it until syrupy, then fold it through the beans until they cohere as a salad rather than float in aspic. If jelly pools beneath them, chill the bowl for 5 minutes and fold once more.

9. 9

   Compose and chill

   Arrange the 8 coated collops in a deep square serving dish, alternating each one with an oval slice of salted tongue. Mound the bound French-bean salad in the center, keeping its lozenge shapes visible. Chill the completed dish for at least 2 hours, uncovered until its surface has set and then lightly covered so nothing marks the chaud-froid. Bring it to the table properly cold, with each ivory dome intact and the clear jelly holding its colored mosaic. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde has more fat and tenderness than an ordinary roasting hen, but a plump young chicken of the same weight answers honestly. Poach it carefully and chill it completely. Technique first, always.
• •Preserved black truffles are the classical pantry’s sensible answer when fresh truffles are unavailable. Buy pieces or peelings if necessary, but keep the equal measure of chicken, salted tongue, and real truffle in the salpicon. Truffle oil cannot supply its texture or flavor.
• •Ask a butcher or delicatessen for a cooked salted or corned beef tongue with a firm, deep pink-red center. Buy it in one piece so the central section yields proper oval slices; thin sandwich slices cannot make the original arrangement.
• •The coating temperature decides the finish. Test the chaud-froid on the back of a refrigerated spoon: it should cover opaquely, stay smooth, and set within a few minutes without forming a rubbery ridge.
• •Serve with a dry blanc de blancs Champagne or a restrained white Burgundy. The wine needs enough freshness for the cream and aspic, with no sweetness competing against the salted tongue and truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach and chill the poularde, reduce the liquor, and make the chicken jelly up to 2 days ahead. Keep the bird and jelly separately covered in the refrigerator.
• •The tongue, truffle, cornichons, and egg whites may be cut a day ahead and held in separate covered containers. Mix them only when the collops are ready to coat.
• •The entire dish may be assembled up to 24 hours before serving. Leave it uncovered until the surface sets, then cover without touching the garnish. Do not freeze it; thawed gelatin releases water and the chaud-froid loses its smooth coat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 700g)