Blanc de Dindonneau à la Dampierre

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •8-inch (20 cm) square metal pan
• •Larger roasting pan for the water bath
• •3 by 2-inch (7.5 by 5 cm) oval cutter or paper template
• •Two piping bags with ½-inch (1.25 cm) plain and small star tips
• •Wide covered pot with a poaching insert or heatproof rack
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small heavy saucepan for the velouté
• •Round serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the turkey stock

   Put the turkey bones, chicken stock, onion, carrot, celery, parsley stems, and bay leaf in a narrow saucepan. Bring slowly to a bare simmer, skim the grey foam, and cook uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes without letting it boil hard. Strain without pressing the vegetables, then reduce gently to 3 cups (720 ml). The liquid should taste distinctly of turkey but remain pale and clean.

2. 2

   Build the cold mousseline

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Reserve 1 tbsp (15 g) of the diced turkey on ice as insurance, then process the remaining thigh meat with the measured salt and white pepper until smooth, sticky, and gathered around the blade. Add the egg white and process again. With the machine pulsing, add the ice-cold cream gradually, stopping to scrape the bowl, until the mousseline is glossy and supple. Press it through a fine-mesh sieve, then poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water until fully cooked and taste for seasoning. Reserve 2 tbsp (30 ml) raw mousseline for attaching the collops and ¼ cup (60 ml) for the tongue border; refrigerate both immediately.

   The mixture must remain below 50°F (10°C). If it becomes oily or grainy, stop. Chill the bowl and mixture over ice for 15 minutes, process the reserved cold turkey until sticky, then add the broken mixture back one spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape.
3. 3

   Poach the mousseline sheet

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Butter an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan and line it with parchment. Spread the remaining mousseline into a level layer exactly ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick, forming roughly a 7-inch (18 cm) square, then lay buttered parchment directly on its surface. Set the pan in a larger roasting dish and add hot water halfway up its sides. Poach for 16 to 20 minutes, until the mousseline is opaque, springy, and reaches 160°F (71°C); let it stand covered for 5 minutes so it reaches 165°F (74°C). Cool, then chill for 20 minutes before cutting.

4. 4

   Poêle the suprême

   Prepare the turkey breast using the separate Poëlings (No. 250), keeping the skin attached during cooking. Remove the breast when its thickest point reaches 140°F (60°C), then rest it for 10 minutes. Remove the skin and slice the suprême across the grain into eight collops about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Trim each collop into a neat 3 by 2-inch (7.5 by 5 cm) oval. The breast is deliberately underdone now because the assembled medallions receive a second poaching; cooking it through at this stage would leave it dry at the table.

5. 5

   Cook the velouté

   Melt the roux butter over medium-low heat, stir in the flour, and cook for 3 minutes without allowing it to colour beyond pale straw. Gradually whisk in 2½ cups (600 ml) of the enriched turkey stock, reserving the remainder for adjustments. Bring to a bare simmer and cook for 20 minutes, skimming as needed, until the velouté coats the back of a spoon in a thin, even layer. If it lumps, whisk firmly and strain it; if it becomes too thick, loosen it with reserved stock. Season with salt and white pepper, strain into a clean saucepan, and hold warm. Whisk in the cold diced butter immediately before serving, off the heat, so the sauce gleams rather than separates.

6. 6

   Make the pea purée

   Cook the frozen peas in well-salted boiling water until tender and brilliantly green, about 3 minutes. Drain thoroughly, then blend while hot with the cream and butter until smooth. Press the purée through a fine-mesh sieve and season with salt and white pepper. It must hold a piped rosette without slumping; if loose, stir it over gentle heat until it tightens, and if too stiff, beat in a teaspoon of warm cream. Reserve about 1 cup (240 ml) for the bread cup and transfer the rest to a piping bag fitted with a small star tip.

7. 7

   Fry the bread cup

   Cut the pain de mie into a neat round and hollow its centre, leaving a ½-inch (1.25 cm) wall and base to form a small bread cup. Warm the clarified butter in a small skillet and fry the cup over medium heat, turning carefully, until every outer surface and the hollowed rim are evenly golden and crisp. Drain it upside down. If the wall cracks, press a scrap of bread firmly into the split from inside and fry that side again; the patch will set in the butter.

8. 8

   Assemble the medallions

   Stamp eight 3 by 2-inch (7.5 by 5 cm) ovals from the chilled mousseline sheet, using a cutter or a paper template and sharp knife. Arrange them on buttered parchment. Spread each with a very thin layer of the reserved 2 tbsp (30 ml) raw mousseline and press a turkey collop gently on top. Combine the reserved ¼ cup (60 ml) raw mousseline with the ½ cup (120 ml) chopped salted tongue, preserving the source formula's exact ratio of one part mousseline to two parts tongue by volume. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a ½-inch (1.25 cm) plain tip and pipe an even border around each collop.

   If the pipe clogs, the tongue is too coarse. Scrape the mixture back into the bowl, chop it more finely, and refill the bag. Do not thin it with cream, which weakens the border.
9. 9

   Poach the medallions

   Set the medallions, still on their parchment, on a heatproof plate or shallow tray that fits inside a covered home poaching setup. Shield them loosely with buttered parchment so condensation cannot mark the borders. Hold the water beneath at the gentlest simmer and poach for 10 to 14 minutes, until the tongue-flecked borders are firm and the centre of every medallion reaches 165°F (74°C). If the borders begin to swell or split, the water is boiling too fiercely; lower the heat immediately and finish gently.

10. 10

    Dress the platter

    Set the fried bread cup in the centre of a warm round platter and fill it generously with the reserved pea purée. Arrange the eight medallions in a close circle around it. Pipe one fine pea-purée rosette in the centre of each collop, keeping the tongue border visible. Pass the glossy turkey velouté separately in a warm sauceboat so every guest can spoon it without hiding the careful work. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Salted tongue is structural as well as flavorful here. Ask a good delicatessen or butcher for cooked corned beef tongue and chop it very finely. Bacon and ham bring smoke and fat the source formula never asked for, so they aren't honest substitutes.
• •Frozen petite peas are the classical pantry's sensible answer outside pea season. They are picked sweet and stay greener in the purée than tired fresh peas that have spent days losing their sugar.
• •Cold tools matter more than an expensive machine. Chill the processor bowl, blade, meat, egg white, and cream thoroughly, then work in short pulses so friction cannot warm the mousseline.
• •Keep the velouté in its sauceboat until the table. Pouring it over the platter too early would bury the tongue-flecked borders and loosen the pea rosettes.
• •Serve with a full-bodied dry white Burgundy or a restrained white Bordeaux. The wine needs enough breadth for the cream and butter, but not so much oak that the peas disappear.

Advance Preparation

• •The enriched turkey stock can be prepared a day ahead, chilled quickly, and refrigerated. Remove any set fat before building the velouté.
• •The velouté can be made through straining several hours ahead. Reheat it over gentle heat and whisk in the final cold butter only when the platter is ready.
• •The mousseline sheet may be poached and chilled up to 6 hours ahead. Keep the two raw mousseline reserves tightly covered and refrigerated below 40°F (4°C), then assemble the medallions no more than 45 minutes before their final poaching.
• •The pea purée can be made up to 4 hours ahead and reheated very gently. Carve the bread cup earlier if useful, but fry it within the final hour so it remains crisp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)