Ailerons de Poulet à la Carmélite

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two straight-sided 1-quart (950 ml) timbale molds or deep bowls
• •Wide 5 to 6-quart poaching pot
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small sharp boning or paring knife
• •Blender or food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp cloth or coffee filter
• •Large bowl for an ice bath
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the suprêmes

   Combine the chicken stock, one carrot, the leek, celery, onion, bouquet garni, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and half the white pepper in a wide pot. Bring it to a bare simmer for 15 minutes, then lower in the chicken suprêmes, breast fillets with their first wing bones attached. Hold the liquid between 170°F and 180°F (77°C and 82°C), with only an occasional tremble, until the thickest part of each breast reaches 160°F (71°C), about 18 to 22 minutes. Lift the chicken onto a rack; the temperature will rise as it rests. Boiling tightens the meat, so if the pot becomes lively, pull it off the heat until it settles.

2. 2

   Bare and chill

   When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin without tearing the flesh. With a small knife, scrape every shred of meat and tendon from each humerus while leaving the breast and bone joined. This clean white handle is part of the Carmélite presentation. If a suprême tears, ça se rattrape: press it back into shape and place that side against the mousse, where the jelly will hold it. Cover and chill the chicken. Strain the poaching liquid, reserve 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) for the crayfish essence, and keep the remainder for the jelly.

3. 3

   Cook crayfish à bisque

   Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan. Add the remaining carrot and the shallots, cooking gently until softened but not browned. Raise the heat, add the crayfish, and turn them through the butter until their shells color red. Take the pan off the flame before adding the Cognac, then return it to the heat and let the liquor reduce by half. Stir in the tomato paste, add the wine, cover, and cook until the tails are opaque and just firm, about 5 minutes. This aromatic shell-on cooking is what cooked as for bisque means here; the tails take their character before they are peeled.

4. 4

   Build crayfish essence

   Lift out the crayfish and let them cool briefly. Shell and devein the tails, reserving the 16 neatest whole tails for the two central rows. Pick the remaining tail and claw meat for the mousse. Return all heads and shells to the pan, crush them firmly with a wooden spoon, and add the reserved cup of chicken poaching liquid. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve, pressing the shells well. Reduce the liquid to ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g). It should smell deeply of crayfish and lightly coat a spoon, not taste scorched or aggressively salty.

5. 5

   Fold crayfish mousse

   Bloom the mousse gelatin in its 3 tablespoons of cold water for 5 minutes. Purée the picked crayfish meat with the warm reduced essence until smooth, then pass it through a fine sieve. Stir in the bloomed gelatin, the cayenne, and enough salt and white pepper to taste clearly when cold. Set the bowl over ice and stir until the mixture is cool and just beginning to thicken. Whip the cream to soft folds and fold it through in three additions. If the crayfish base sets into strands before the cream goes in, warm the bowl over barely warm water only until fluid. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Set mousse foundations

   Rinse two straight-sided 1-quart (950 ml) timbale molds or deep bowls with cold water and shake them dry. Divide the mousse between them, filling each mold halfway, and level the surfaces. Chill for 25 to 30 minutes, until the mousse holds a light fingertip impression without feeling hard. If it becomes fully firm, roughen the surface lightly with a fork before assembly so the jelly can bind the layers.

7. 7

   Prepare chicken jelly

   Reduce the remaining strained poaching liquid to 3½ cups (840 ml / 840 g), skimming away any fat. Reserve ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) for adjustment. Bloom 1 tablespoon of the jelly gelatin in ⅓ cup of cold water for 5 minutes, then dissolve it in the hot remaining stock without boiling. Taste boldly for salt and white pepper, because chilling mutes both, and strain through a damp cloth or coffee filter. Brush the cold suprêmes with two thin coats of jelly, chilling briefly between coats. Set the rest over ice and stir until it pours like light syrup. If it sets too firmly, whisk in warm reserved stock a spoonful at a time; if a chilled spoonful remains liquid after 5 minutes, bloom the reserved ½ teaspoon gelatin in the remaining tablespoon of water and stir it into the jelly.

8. 8

   Compose the timbales

   Set two glazed suprêmes opposite one another on each mousse foundation, with their cleaned humerus bones pointing toward opposite sides of the mold. Arrange eight trimmed crayfish tails in a straight row between each pair. Spoon the half-set jelly slowly around and over the arrangement until everything is covered. The jelly must be cold and syrupy now. If a breast or tail begins to float, stop after a shallow anchoring layer, chill the mold for 8 minutes, then add the remaining jelly. Nothing is lost, and the geometry stays where you put it.

9. 9

   Chill and unmold

   Refrigerate the timbales for at least 2 hours, until the jelly is fully set through the center. To unmold, dip each mold in warm water for 5 seconds, dry it, cover with a chilled serving plate, and invert decisively. If it resists, repeat for 2 seconds rather than warming it until the edges melt. Cut each timbale cleanly in half with a thin knife dipped in warm water, giving every guest one suprême, crayfish mousse, tails, and jelly. Serve well chilled. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for airline breasts or chicken suprêmes with the first wing joint attached. Ordinary wings are not the same cut; the breast meat and its clean humerus create the presentation named in the source.
• •Raw whole crayfish or crawfish give both intact tails and shells for the essence. Good frozen raw whole crawfish are an honest preserved choice when fresh ones are unavailable. If you use fully cooked crayfish, warm them only briefly in the Cognac and wine, or the tails will toughen.
• •Use unflavored powdered gelatin by weight when possible, since brands vary in volume and strength. The cold-spoon test is better than blind faith in a packet: the jelly should hold a tender cut, not bounce.
• •Serve with toasted brioche or thin slices of buttered pain de mie and a dry, mineral white wine such as Chablis. The plate already contains its garnish, so leave parsley bouquets and decorative leaves elsewhere.

Advance Preparation

• •The entire dish may be assembled the day before serving and kept covered in the refrigerator. Unmold it shortly before the guests sit down so the jelly remains cold and sharply defined.
• •The chicken and crayfish may be cooked earlier in the day. Keep the suprêmes, reserved tails, strained poaching liquid, and crayfish essence separately covered and chilled, then make the mousse and assemble.
• •Leftovers must remain refrigerated and are best eaten within 2 days. Do not freeze the finished timbale; thawed jelly releases water and the mousse loses its light texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)