Mousselines de Pigeonneaux à l’Épicurienne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Poultry shears and a narrow boning knife
• •Food processor with a chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Four 4-ounce (120 ml) oval molds or ramekins
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Heavy ovenproof skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Separate and chill birds

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade. Remove both breasts from each squab, keeping your knife against the keel so the fillets remain whole. Choose four evenly sized fillets, leave their skin attached, cover them, and refrigerate for roasting. Skin the other four, trim away every visible sinew, and cut the meat into small cubes; you want about 8 ounces (225 g). Spread those cubes on a cold plate and refrigerate. Cut each carcass into several pieces with poultry shears so it will surrender its flavor quickly.

   Ask the butcher to leave the birds whole and the skin intact. You need the carcasses for fumet and four neat breast fillets for the crown.
2. 2

   Build the carcass fumet

   Reserve 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the stock for adjusting the finished sauce. Melt 1 tablespoon of the unsalted butter in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the carcass pieces and brown them patiently, turning until the bones and attached meat are a deep chestnut and the pan floor carries a firm brown fond. Add the carrot and shallot, cook for 4 minutes, then pour in a splash of the measured stock and scrape up every browned trace. Add the remaining stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a bare simmer, skim once, and cook uncovered for 40 minutes. Strain firmly through a fine sieve, discard the solids, and reduce the fumet until 3/4 cup (180 ml) remains. Keep it warm.

   A hard boil clouds the fumet and drives fat into it. Hold the surface at a quiet tremble; reduction will supply the strength.
3. 3

   Make the cold mousseline

   Set a chilled bowl over ice. Put the cold cubed pigeon meat in the chilled processor with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the white pepper. Process in short pulses until the meat becomes smooth and tacky, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the egg white and pulse just until absorbed. With the machine running briefly between additions, incorporate all but 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the cold cream in four additions. Scrape the forcemeat through a fine sieve into the bowl over ice for the silkiest texture. If the mixture turns grainy or oily, stop. Ça se rattrape: chill it over ice for 10 minutes, put 1 tablespoon of cold cream in the cleaned chilled processor, then pulse the broken mixture into it one spoonful at a time until smooth.

   The forcemeat should remain below 40°F (4°C). If the processor bowl loses its chill, stop and return everything to the refrigerator before continuing.
4. 4

   Test and fill molds

   Bring a small saucepan of water to the barest simmer. Poach a teaspoon of mousseline until fully cooked and opaque, about 2 minutes, then taste it. The sample should be tender, cohesive, and fine-grained. If it is firmer than you want, fold the reserved cream into the cold mixture a spoonful at a time. If it weeps fat or crumbles, the emulsion has warmed; rebuild it by the chilling method in the previous step. Butter four 4-ounce (120 ml) molds with 1 tablespoon of the unsalted butter. Divide in the mousseline, tap the molds lightly to release trapped air, smooth the tops, and cover each loosely with buttered parchment or foil.

5. 5

   Poach without boiling

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Set the molds on a folded kitchen towel in a roasting pan and add hot water to reach halfway up their sides. Poach for 22 to 28 minutes, until the centers reach 165°F (74°C) and feel softly resilient rather than firm. The bain-marie must never boil. If it begins bubbling hard, add a little cool water and lower the oven; gentle heat is the difference between a mousseline and a pigeon-flavored rubber ball. Lift out the molds, rest them for 5 minutes, and keep them covered in a warm place.

   Do not judge by browning. A poached mousseline remains pale; temperature and a soft spring beneath the fingertip tell you it is done.
6. 6

   Braise peas and lettuce

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter in a wide sauté pan. Add the lettuce, water, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, 1/8 teaspoon of the white pepper, and the sugar if the peas lack sweetness. Cover and cook gently for 4 minutes, until the lettuce collapses but keeps its green color. If using fresh peas, add them with the lettuce and cook for 8 to 10 minutes in total. If using frozen peas, add them now without thawing and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover and reduce any remaining liquid until the peas and lettuce wear a light butter glaze. If the pan is watery, lift out the vegetables and reduce the liquid alone, then return them; do not punish the peas for the sauce’s delay.

7. 7

   Roast the breast fillets

   Raise the oven to 425°F (220°C). Dry the reserved skin-on fillets and season them with the remaining salt and white pepper. Heat the clarified butter in an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Lay in the fillets skin-side down and leave them undisturbed until deeply bronzed, 3 to 4 minutes. If the skin clings, give it another 30 seconds rather than tearing it; properly browned skin releases from the pan. Turn the fillets, cook for 1 minute, then transfer the skillet to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove them when the thickest part reaches 160°F (71°C), rest for 5 minutes, and verify that carryover heat has brought them to 165°F (74°C). If not, return them to the oven briefly.

8. 8

   Bind fumet with velouté

   Bring the reduced fumet back to a gentle simmer. Whisk in the warm velouté one tablespoon at a time, using all 1/4 cup (60 ml), and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon in a thin, glossy layer. This is the source entry’s few tablespoonfuls of velouté doing their proper work: giving cohesion without hiding the pigeon. If the sauce tightens too far, loosen it with the reserved stock. If it remains thin, reduce it gently. If small lumps appear, strain it; ça se rattrape.

9. 9

   Build the crown

   Spoon the peas and lettuce into the middle of a warmed serving platter. Run a thin knife around each mousseline and unmold the four in a ring around the garnish. If one resists, dip the base of its mold in hot water for 5 seconds and try again; never shake it into ruin. Set one roasted pigeon fillet on each mousseline. Spoon enough fumet and velouté sauce over the fillets and around the mousselines to make them gleam, leaving their forms distinct, and bring the remaining sauce separately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Squab is young pigeon, tender enough for the quick-roasted fillets this dish requires. Choose birds of similar size so the four crowns cook evenly, and ask for every carcass and neck to be returned to you.
• •Frozen peas picked at their peak are the honest choice outside pea season. Add them frozen so they keep their sweetness and color; tired fresh peas gain nothing from ceremony.
• •Chill the processor bowl, blade, meat, egg white, and cream before making the mousseline. Temperature matters more than speed here, and a five-minute pause over ice saves an emulsion that bravado will only break.
• •Serve with a light red Burgundy or a supple Beaujolais, cool rather than warm. Pigeon wants red fruit and freshness, while a heavy tannic wine flattens the peas and velouté.
• •We don't apologize for butter, but we do use it with purpose: to carry the lettuce, protect the molds, and build the fond without leaving the final sauce greasy.

Advance Preparation

• •The squabs can be separated and the fumet prepared up to two days ahead. Chill the fumet promptly, remove any set surface fat, and reheat it gently before reducing.
• •The source treats velouté as a finished component, so prepare or thaw it before beginning this dish. Keep it separate and warm only the required 1/4 cup (60 ml) when the fumet is ready to bind.
• •The mousseline forcemeat may be made up to 4 hours ahead and held tightly covered over ice in the refrigerator. Fill and poach the molds near serving time.
• •Wash and cut the lettuce earlier in the day, but cook the peas and lettuce shortly before serving so their color remains lively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)