Aiguillettes de Rouennais aux Truffes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy oval cocotte or covered roasting pan, about 5 quarts
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small ladle or sauce spoon
• •Long sharp carving knife
• •Lukewarm oval serving platter
• •Warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the service

   Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Season the duckling inside and out with the salt and pepper. Warm the sauce Rouennaise very gently, then hold back ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) in a separate bowl for correcting the finished sauce. Warm an oval serving platter until it feels pleasantly lukewarm, never hot; a fierce platter keeps cooking the rosy aiguillettes while you arrange them.

2. 2

   Poële the duckling

   Carry out the home-scaled Poëlings (No. 250) through its covered cook and brief uncovered colouring, without adding liquid during the cook. Begin checking the thickest part of the breast after 25 minutes. Remove the duckling when the breast reaches 155°F (68°C) and remains there for at least 1 minute, then rest it loosely covered for 10 minutes. The breast should be juicy and faintly rosy. If the legs need more cooking, return them with the carcass to the oven after removing the breasts; tonight's aiguillettes must not be sacrificed to the legs.

   Probe from the side into the centre of the breast without touching bone. Temperature, not the colour of the juices, tells you when the duckling is ready.
3. 3

   Cook the truffles

   Transfer the rested duckling to a board and leave the poëling liquor, butter, vegetables, and browned deposits in the cocotte. Pour in the Chambertin and add the five whole peeled truffles. Cover and hold the liquid at the gentlest simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the truffles once, until the wine carries their deep woodland fragrance. Lift out the truffles and keep them covered on the lukewarm platter.

4. 4

   Reduce the liquor

   Let the Chambertin and poëling liquor boil steadily until reduced to about ⅓ cup (80 ml / 80 g), glossy and concentrated but not syrupy. Only now skim away the excess grease; its time in contact with the wine and vegetables has carried flavour into the reduction. Pass the liquid through a fine sieve, pressing lightly, then discard the exhausted vegetables.

5. 5

   Finish the Rouennaise

   Whisk the strained reduction gradually into the warm sauce Rouennaise and bring it just below a simmer. Reduce only until the sauce nappes, meaning it coats the back of a spoon in a thin, translucent film and runs cleanly from its edge. If it becomes thick, loosen it teaspoon by teaspoon with warm water. If it looks grainy or beads with fat, take it off the heat, pass it through the clean sieve, and whisk in the reserved plain sauce. Ça se rattrape. Taste before adding any salt; the reduction has already concentrated everything.

   Draw a finger through the sauce on the back of the spoon. The line should remain clear while the surrounding sauce stays fluid. If it sits like paste, it has gone too far.
6. 6

   Carve the aiguillettes

   Remove each breast cleanly from the carcass. Following the lengthwise aiguillette cut used in Aiguillettes de Rouennais à la Bigarrade (No. 1755), slice each breast with the grain into about 10 slim, even aiguillettes. Slice the warm truffles into thin rounds. Use a long, sharp knife and one confident stroke for each cut so the duck remains clean-edged rather than ragged.

7. 7

   Alternate and sauce

   Arrange the aiguillettes on the lukewarm platter, alternating each piece of duckling with a slice of truffle so both remain plainly visible. Spoon over only enough sauce to give the arrangement a thin, glossy coat. Transfer the rest to a warmed sauceboat and serve it alongside, not over the platter. This is the moment for restraint. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use a small young duckling with plump breasts. An older or very lean bird asks for a different cookery, and no amount of truffle will make an overcooked breast tender.
• •Fresh black truffles are the dish, not decoration. Outside their season, whole preserved truffles packed in their own juice are the classical pantry's honest answer, though their aroma will be quieter. Add their strained packing juice to the Chambertin reduction and reduce with care.
• •Chambertin means Chambertin here. The recipe uses only a scant half cup, so measure it before dinner and pour the rest at the table. Burgundy is not being used as a vague French flourish; its wine is the cooking medium for the truffles.
• •Light describes the consistency of the sauce Rouennaise, not reduced richness. It should flow around the aiguillettes and leave their edges visible. If the duck disappears beneath brown sauce, use less.
• •Keep the remaining duckling meat and carcass. Finish cooking the legs if necessary, then use them for a second supper and the bones for stock. Economy and magnificence have always shared a stove.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the light sauce Rouennaise as its own component up to a day ahead, chill it promptly, and reheat it over very gentle heat. Do not add the Chambertin and poëling reduction until shortly before serving.
• •Measure the wine, set out the cocotte, sieve, thermometer, warm platter, and sauceboat before the duckling cooks. Once the breasts are ready, carving and saucing must move without a long pause.
• •The duckling may be seasoned and left uncovered in the cold for up to 4 hours. Take it out about 30 minutes before cooking so the chill comes off evenly.
• •Peel the truffles only a few hours ahead and keep them tightly covered in the cold. Save every peeling for another sauce, an omelette, or butter; truffle is too precious for the bin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 335g)