Mousse et Mousselines de Caneton Rouennais

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with at least a 7-cup / 1.7 L bowl
• •Fine-mesh sieve or tamis
• •Four 6-ounce / 180 ml ramekins or dariole moulds, or one 1-quart / 950 ml mould
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Trim and chill

   Remove the skin from the duck breasts and cut away every thread of sinew and visible fat. Weigh 10½ ounces / 300 g of lean meat, cut it into small cubes, and spread them on a metal tray. Chill the meat in the freezer for 15 minutes, until firm at the edges but not frozen. Chill the food processor bowl, blade, sieve, and a mixing bowl at the same time. Snip the reserved skin and trimmings into small pieces for the fond.

   The forcemeat must stay cold enough to bind the cream. Warm duck fat smears instead of emulsifying, so cold is an ingredient here, not housekeeping.
2. 2

   Build the duck fond

   Put the duck skin and trimmings in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Render them until the skin is deeply bronzed, then pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the duck fat. Add the shallot and carrot and let them brown well. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, add the red wine, and scrape up the fond from the pan floor. Reduce until the wine looks syrupy, add the chicken stock, and simmer uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, until about 1¼ cups / 300 ml remain. Strain, skim away surface fat, and measure 1 cup / 240 ml for the Sauce Bigarrade. If you have less, make up the measure with stock; if you have more, reduce it further.

3. 3

   Make the forcemeat

   Put the chilled duck meat in the chilled processor with 1½ teaspoons of the salt and the white pepper. Process in short pulses, scraping the bowl often, until the meat becomes a smooth, tacky paste. Add the cold egg white in three additions, processing only until each disappears. Stop if the bowl loses its chill. Ten minutes over ice costs nothing; a warmed forcemeat costs the mousse its texture.

4. 4

   Work in the cream

   Press the duck paste through the fine sieve into the chilled mixing bowl. Set the bowl over ice and reserve 2 tablespoons of the cream. Work the remaining cream into the paste in four additions with a sturdy spatula, mixing each addition completely before adding the next, then incorporate the reserved cream. The finished forcemeat should look glossy and hold a soft ridge. If an oily halo appears, stop immediately and chill the bowl for 10 minutes before continuing with small, deliberate strokes. Ça se rattrape. Do not beat a warming mixture harder, because friction is what put you there.

5. 5

   Test the seasoning

   Poach a teaspoon of forcemeat in barely trembling water for about 4 minutes, until fully cooked, then taste it. Adjust with a pinch of the reserved salt if necessary. This test is the cook's insurance: cold cream softens seasoning, and once the mousse is moulded there is no honest way to correct its center.

6. 6

   Mould and poach

   Heat the oven to 300°F / 150°C. Butter four 6-ounce / 180 ml ramekins or dariole moulds for mousselines. For one large mousse, butter a 1-quart / 950 ml mould instead. Divide in the forcemeat, press it gently into the corners without compacting it, and smooth the tops. Cover each mould with buttered parchment and foil, then set them in a deep roasting pan. Add hot water to reach halfway up their sides. Cook individual mousselines for 28 to 35 minutes, or the large mousse for 50 to 60 minutes, until the centers reach 165°F / 74°C. The bain-marie should barely tremble. If it begins to boil, lower the oven and replace some water with cool water; hard boiling leaves holes and a coarse edge.

7. 7

   Build Sauce Bigarrade

   While the mousselines poach, melt the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat without stirring. Let it reach a deep copper color, but if it turns black or smells acrid, begin again with fresh sugar. Two tablespoons are cheaper than a bitter sauce. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the vinegar. The caramel will seize and bubble fiercely; return it to low heat and stir until smooth. Add the measured duck fond, orange juice, lemon juice, and zest strips. Simmer until reduced to about 1 cup / 240 ml and the sauce naps the back of a spoon. Remove the zest and take the pan off the heat. Whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time, then season with the remaining salt. If the butter beads on the surface, whisk in 1 teaspoon of cold water away from the heat until the sauce closes again.

8. 8

   Unmould and serve

   Rest the cooked mousselines for 5 minutes. Loosen each edge with a thin knife and turn the mousselines onto warm plates, or turn the large mousse onto a warmed serving dish. Slip the orange sections into the Sauce Bigarrade for 30 seconds off the heat, just long enough to glaze them without cooking them soft. Spoon the sauce generously around the duck and arrange the orange sections beside it. Nothing green, nothing improvised, and no other sauce belongs here. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true Rouen duckling can be difficult to find. Ask a specialist poultry butcher first. Muscovy breast is the closest practical substitute because its lean, red flesh carries the forcemeat well, but name the change honestly: the technique remains Rouennaise, while the bird is no longer from Rouen.
• •Weigh exactly 10½ ounces / 300 g of lean meat after removing skin, fat, and sinew. Freeze any surplus for another dish. The ratio matters more than using every scrap, because excess meat produces a tight mousse and excess cream leaves it fragile.
• •A Seville orange, when available, may replace one sweet orange and the lemon juice. Its natural bitterness brings the Sauce Bigarrade closer to its namesake. Ordinary oranges still work because the dark caramel and wine vinegar restore the missing edge.
• •Serve the mousselines with their orange sections alone or with a smooth celery-root purée, one of the vegetable purées the preparation permits. A dry Norman cider or a light red wine suits the duck without crowding the sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The strained duck fond can be made up to 2 days ahead and chilled. Remove its solidified surface fat before preparing the Sauce Bigarrade.
• •The finished forcemeat may be moulded, covered, and refrigerated for up to 4 hours before poaching. Keep it properly cold and place it directly into the prepared bain-marie.
• •Prepare the orange sections earlier on the day of serving and refrigerate them in a covered container with their collected juice. Mount the sauce with cold butter only at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)