Soufflé Froid de Caneton à l’Orange

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Roasting pan with rack
• •3 to 4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fat separator or shallow ladle
• •Food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible scraper
• •Tightly woven cloth for clarifying
• •6-inch (15 cm) square mold
• •10-inch (25 cm) shallow square serving dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the duckling

   Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Remove the neck, dry the duckling thoroughly, and prick only the fatty skin around the thighs and tail without piercing the flesh. Season inside and out with 2 teaspoons of the salt and half the white pepper. Roast breast-side up for 70 to 85 minutes, pouring off the rendered fat once or twice, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F (74°C). Rest for 20 minutes. Pull every scrap of meat from the breasts, legs, wings, and back while the bird is still warm, with no collops held aside for decoration. Remove skin, gristle, and hard sinew; expect about 1⅓ pounds (600 g) of cooked meat. Cover and chill the meat. Save the rendered fat for another dish.

2. 2

   Build the duck essence

   Crack the carcass into several pieces and place it with the neck and shallots in the roasting pan or a saucepan. Add the wine, bring it to a brisk simmer, and scrape every bronzed trace of fond from the pan. Reduce the wine by half, then add the chicken stock and bouquet garni. Hold the liquid at a bare tremble for 60 to 75 minutes, uncovered, until reduced to about 3 cups (720 ml). A rolling boil clouds the stock and drives the duck fat into it, so keep the movement gentle. Strain without pressing on the bones, then remove every visible trace of fat with a separator or a spoon.

3. 3

   Clarify the essence

   Cool the duck essence until barely warm. Whisk the egg whites until loose and frothy, stir them into the stock, and bring it slowly toward a simmer while stirring gently along the pot floor. Stop stirring as soon as the whites rise into a raft. Open a small hole in the raft and maintain the gentlest simmer for 15 minutes, ladling a little clear liquid through the opening. Pass the essence through a damp, tightly woven cloth without squeezing. Measure out 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) for the mousse and 1⅝ cups (390 ml / 390 g) for the aspic. If the stock is thin rather than lightly sticky between two fingers, reduce it before measuring.

4. 4

   Cook the velouté base

   Bloom the mousse gelatin in 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the cold water for 5 minutes. Melt the butter over gentle heat, stir in the flour, and cook this roux for 2 minutes without letting it color. Whisk in the reserved 1 cup (240 ml) of duck essence a little at a time, then add ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of the cream. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, whisking, until you have a velouté, a stock-thickened sauce, dense enough to hold a clear trail from the whisk. Remove it from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved. Season with the remaining salt and white pepper. It should taste slightly more pronounced than you want at the table because chilling mutes seasoning.

5. 5

   Purée all the duck

   Process all the chilled duck meat with the warm velouté in batches until no fibers remain. Scrape the machine often, then force the purée once through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible scraper. The food processor replaces the old mortar and repeated sieving, which were brigade scaffolding; this final pass stays because it removes the leg tendons and gives the mousse its proper finish. Set the bowl over ice and stir until the purée feels cool, thickens slightly, and holds the faint track of the spatula.

6. 6

   Fold and mold

   Whip the remaining 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) of cold cream to soft folds, not stiff peaks. Fold one-third into the duck purée to loosen it, then fold in the remainder with broad strokes until no white streaks remain. If the purée is warm, stop before folding because it will melt the cream; cool it over ice first. If it has become firm around the edges, set the bowl briefly over lukewarm water and whisk until supple again. Ça se rattrape. Line a 6-inch (15 cm) square mold with smooth plastic wrap, pack in the mousse without air pockets, level the top, cover, and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight.

   The purée is ready for the cream when it is cool to the touch and a spatula line remains visible for a second before closing. Liquid means too warm; rubbery edges mean too cold.
7. 7

   Make the orange aspic

   Bloom the aspic gelatin in the remaining 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) cold water for 5 minutes. Warm the reserved 1⅝ cups (390 ml) duck essence just enough to dissolve the gelatin, then remove it from the heat. When the liquid is cool but still fluid, stir in the Seville orange juice and curaçao. This produces about 1 pint (570 ml) of aspic and preserves the source ratio of one liqueur glass of curaçao per pint. Set the bowl over ice and stir occasionally until the aspic reaches the consistency of light syrup.

8. 8

   Cut the orange sections

   Peel the sweet oranges à vif, cutting away the peel and white pith until only bare flesh remains. Working over a bowl, cut each suprême, a membrane-free section, from between its dividing membranes. Lay the sections on a clean towel for 15 minutes. Their surfaces must be dry enough to accept the aspic; juice left clinging to them dilutes the jelly and makes it slide away.

9. 9

   Unmold and glaze

   Invert the mousse into the center of a shallow 10-inch (25 cm) square serving dish and peel away the lining. Arrange the orange sections closely around all four sides. Spoon or brush a thin coat of syrupy aspic over the mousse and oranges, then chill for 10 minutes. Repeat once to seal the surface, then pour the remaining aspic around the mousse until the orange sections are covered. If the aspic sets in its bowl, warm it gently over barely warm water until fluid. If it feels warm enough to soften the mousse, wait until it thickens again before pouring.

10. 10

    Chill and serve

    Chill the completed dish for at least 2 hours, until the aspic is clear, firm, and tender beneath a spoon. Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving. Cut the mousse into four generous portions with a thin knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry, giving each diner orange sections and a spoonful of the Seville orange aspic. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Seville orange is not interchangeable with an ordinary sweet orange here. Its bitterness is what keeps duck, cream, and curaçao in balance. Fresh or frozen unsweetened Seville juice is the honest choice outside its short season.
• •Use clear or amber curaçao, never a brightly colored bottle. The liqueur should deepen the bitter-orange perfume without dyeing the aspic or turning it sugary.
• •Do not discard the duck carcass or replace the reinforced essence with plain stock. The mousse is mild once cold, and that hour of drawing the roasting fond and bones into the stock gives it the necessary backbone.
• •A demi-sec Vouvray has enough acidity and gentle sweetness for the orange without bullying the cold duck mousse. Serve it properly chilled.
• •Keep the finished mousse refrigerated and serve within 2 days. Return leftovers to the cold promptly because this is cooked poultry held in cream and aspic.

Advance Preparation

• •Roast the duckling, prepare and clarify the duck essence, and mold the mousse the evening before serving. Its overnight rest is useful, not ceremonial; the mousse firms evenly and the duck flavor settles through the cream.
• •The orange aspic can be made while the mousse chills. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then warm it gently until fluid and cool it back to a syrupy consistency before glazing.
• •The fully assembled dish can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Cover it only after the aspic has set so wrapping cannot mark its surface.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)