Suprêmes de Pigeonneaux à la Marigny

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Boning knife and poultry shears
• •Food processor
• •8-inch (20 cm) square metal pan
• •Larger roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •2½ to 3-inch (6 to 7.5 cm) oval cutter or parchment template
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small heavy lidded casserole
• •2-quart saucepan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warm oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Divide and chill

   Cut the legs from the squab, leaving the breast meat attached to each carcass. Bone the legs carefully, remove every hard tendon, and dice the meat; you should have about 7 oz (200 g). Spread it on a plate and chill it with the food-processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Keep the breast-bearing carcasses cold. Mousseline forcemeat depends on cold meat binding cold cream, and warmth is its first enemy.

2. 2

   Make the mousseline

   Process the cold leg meat with 1 teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the white pepper until it becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. With the machine pulsing, add the cold cream gradually, holding back 2 tablespoons, and stop as soon as the paste is smooth, glossy, and firm enough to hold a spoon mark. Press it through a fine sieve, then poach a teaspoon in barely simmering water and taste for seasoning. If the paste turns loose or greasy, stop processing and set the bowl over ice; work in the reserved cold cream a teaspoon at a time until it gathers again. Ça se rattrape. Chill the finished mousseline while the oven heats.

   Do not add breadcrumbs to stiffen a warm forcemeat. Chill it first. The cold restores the bind without changing the texture the dish requires.
3. 3

   Poach and stamp

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Butter an 8-inch (20 cm) square metal pan with 1 tablespoon of the measured butter, spread the mousseline about ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick, and cover its surface with buttered parchment. Set the pan in a larger roasting pan and add hot water to come halfway up its sides. Bake until the forcemeat is just set and reaches 165°F (74°C), about 12 to 16 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut 8 ovals the size of the breasts. An oval cutter is convenient, not sacred; trace one breast on parchment and use that template with a small knife if needed.

4. 4

   Purée the peas

   Cook the peas in well-salted boiling water until tender and brilliantly green, 3 to 5 minutes depending on whether they are frozen or fresh. Drain thoroughly, then blend with 3 tablespoons of the butter and up to ¼ cup (60 ml) of the stock. Pass the purée through a fine sieve, season with salt and white pepper, and keep it covered over barely warm water. It should stand in a soft pyramid without looking stiff. If it slumps, cook it gently for a minute to shed moisture; if it becomes dense, loosen it with stock one spoonful at a time.

5. 5

   Build the velouté

   Make a roux blanc (white roux): melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook gently for 2 minutes without letting it color. Whisk in 2½ cups (590 ml) of the stock a little at a time, scraping into every corner so no flour hides there. Hold the velouté at a bare simmer for 20 minutes, skimming as needed, until it coats the back of a spoon in a thin, even layer. If it is lumpy, strain it. If it tightens before the pigeon essence is ready, loosen it with a little stock and keep it warm.

6. 6

   Poêle the breasts

   Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Season the squab lightly, then drape 2 bacon slices over the breast of each bird. Using the prepared Poëlings (No. 250), poêle the 4 bodies in the smallest suitable covered casserole, basting as directed and adding no liquid during the cooking. Begin checking after 10 minutes and remove the birds when the thickest part of each breast reaches 145 to 150°F (63 to 66°C), usually after 12 to 16 minutes. They are not ready to serve yet. If a breast reaches 160°F (71°C), remove it immediately and keep it out of the warm casserole; use the shortest possible final oven pass later.

7. 7

   Raise and enrich

   Remove and discard the bacon. Quickly raise the 8 suprêmes from the carcasses and peel away their skin, then cover them loosely. Chop the warm carcasses with poultry shears and return them to the poëling vessel with all the cooking liquor produced by Poëlings (No. 250). Add 1 cup (240 ml) of the stock and simmer gently for 10 minutes before removing the fat, because the stock needs that contact with the butter and browned remains to recover their flavor. Strain, skim carefully, and reduce the essence to about ½ cup (120 ml). Whisk it into the velouté, simmer until the sauce naps the spoon, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. If the sauce separates into greasy beads, whisk a tablespoon of warm stock in a clean saucepan and add the broken sauce gradually. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Bond the suprêmes

   Raise the oven to 425°F (220°C). Arrange the 8 mousseline ovals on a lightly buttered baking dish and spread each with a thin layer of the prepared gratin forcemeat from Gratins (No. 268). Set one suprême on each oval and press just firmly enough to bond them. Bake for 4 to 7 minutes, until the bonding forcemeat is poached and the centre of each breast reaches 165°F (74°C). If a breast slides, lift it, add another thin dab of gratin forcemeat, and return it to the oven for a minute or two.

9. 9

   Compose the platter

   Spoon the hot pea purée into a broad pyramid at the centre of a warmed oval platter. Arrange the 8 mounted suprêmes around it, breast sides uppermost, and coat them generously with the pigeon-enriched velouté, letting a little sauce pool around the forcemeat ovals. Serve the remaining sauce alongside. This is formal food, but it should still arrive generously and be eaten while the sauce gleams. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for young farmed squab of similar size. Equal birds finish together, and the mild, tender meat suits this short double cooking better than an older pigeon meant for braising.
• •Frozen peas are the honest choice when fresh peas are not sweet and newly shelled. They were picked at their peak, and their color survives the purée far better than tired pods from a distant market.
• •The listed time assumes Poëlings (No. 250) and the prepared gratin forcemeat from Gratins (No. 268) are ready to use. The book keeps these preparations separate because each belongs to a wider family of dishes. C'est la même grammaire.
• •Serve a supple red Burgundy or another restrained Pinot Noir. Heavy tannin bullies the peas and velouté; the wine should meet the pigeon without covering it.

Advance Preparation

• •The mousseline sheet can be poached, cut into ovals, covered, and chilled a day ahead. Bring the ovals out while the squab cooks so they lose their refrigerator chill before assembly.
• •The plain velouté can be prepared a day ahead and reheated gently with a little stock. The pigeon essence must be made after the suprêmes are raised, because the carcasses and fresh poëling liquor give the sauce its identity.
• •The peas can be cooked, puréed, and sieved up to 4 hours ahead. Chill them promptly, then reheat over gentle heat with a spoonful of stock and a small piece of butter.
• •Do not poêle the squab ahead. The narrow interval between tender and dry is the one part of this dish that must happen near serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)