Mousses et Mousselines de Faisan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve or tamis
• •Four 8-ounce (240 ml) ramekins or oval moulds, or one 1-quart (1 litre) mould
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Wide saucepan for the fumet
• •Small heavy saucepan for the sauce
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Trim and chill

   Strip the pheasant of its skin and remove the flesh from the breasts and legs. Trim away every visible sinew, blood-dark patch, and fragment of bone, then weigh 14 ounces (400 g) of clean meat and dice it. Chop the carcass, wings, and bones for the fumet, discarding the liver and any bitter or badly bruised remains. Spread the diced meat on a tray and chill it until very firm but not frozen, about 20 minutes. Chill the processor bowl, blade, egg whites, cream, and mixing bowl as well.

   Sinew winds itself around a processor blade and leaves stubborn threads in the mousseline. Trim with patience now, then let the sieve catch what the knife missed.
2. 2

   Draw the fumet

   Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped carcass, wings, bones, and clean trimmings, then cook until evenly golden, turning them so their flavour catches on the pan without burning. Add the shallot and carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in the white wine, scrape up the fond, and reduce the wine by half. Add the chicken stock and bouquet garni, bring to a bare simmer, and cook uncovered for 40 minutes, skimming away any grey froth. Strain without pressing, skim the fat, then reduce to exactly 2 cups (480 ml). If it slips below that mark, add a little stock. This is the fumet on which the finished sauce stands.

3. 3

   Purée the pheasant

   Put the cold pheasant and measured salt in the chilled processor bowl. Pulse until the meat becomes a fine, sticky paste, scraping the bowl often so the blade never runs long enough to warm it. Add the white pepper and nutmeg, then pulse in the egg whites one at a time, waiting until the first disappears completely before adding the second. Force the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve or tamis into the chilled bowl. This sieving is not brigade ceremony; it removes the last sinews and gives the mousseline its fine texture.

4. 4

   Build the emulsion

   Set the bowl of pheasant over a larger bowl of ice. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the measured cold cream, then beat in the remainder a quarter at a time with a firm spatula, allowing each addition to disappear before the next. The finished mixture should be pale, glossy, and soft enough to fall from the spatula in a heavy ribbon. If a greasy ring appears or the mixture turns grainy, stop immediately. Ça se rattrape: spread the forcemeat against the cold bowl, chill it for 10 minutes, then beat in the reserved cream one teaspoon at a time until the gloss returns. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water until its centre reaches 165°F (74°C), then taste and correct the seasoning.

5. 5

   Fill the moulds

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Butter four 8-ounce (240 ml) ramekins or oval moulds generously. For one shared mousse, butter a 1-quart (1 litre) mould instead. Spoon in the forcemeat, leaving a little room at the top, and press it into the corners so no large air pockets remain. Smooth the surfaces and cover each mould with a round of buttered parchment. Set the moulds in a deep roasting pan.

6. 6

   Poach without boiling

   Pour very hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the moulds. Cook the individual mousselines for 25 to 32 minutes, or the larger mousse for 45 to 55 minutes. The water should barely quiver, never boil, and the mousselines are ready when their centres feel lightly springy and register 165°F (74°C). If bubbles begin breaking hard around the moulds, lower the oven and add a little cool water to the bath; violent heat tightens the egg white and makes the edges coarse. Lift out the moulds and rest them for 5 minutes.

7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   While the mousselines poach, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this pale roux for 2 minutes without allowing it to colour. Whisk in the hot fumet gradually, making the first addition small so the paste loosens smoothly, then simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the cream and reduce gently until the sauce coats the back of a spoon in a glossy veil. Strain it, season with salt and white pepper, then take it off the heat and monter au beurre, mount it with the diced cold butter, whisking a few pieces at a time. If the sauce becomes oily, whisk in a teaspoon of cold water away from the heat. If it is too thick, loosen it with a spoonful of stock.

8. 8

   Unmould and serve

   Run a thin knife around each mousseline and invert it onto a warm plate. If one clings, hold the base of its mould against a hot damp towel for a few seconds and try again. Spoon the fumet sauce generously around and partly over each mousseline, leaving enough of the smooth surface visible to show the poach. For a large mousse, unmould it onto a warm serving dish and sauce it at the table. Serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A farmed pheasant is usually plumper and more dependable for this preparation. If your bird is small, buy an extra breast but keep the whole carcass; boneless meat alone can make the mousseline, but it cannot make the sauce the source demands.
• •Cold is technique here, not fussiness. Chill the processor bowl and blade, work in short pulses, and keep the cream in the cold until the instant you need it. If the bowl no longer feels cold against your palm, stop and chill it.
• •Never put the liver or a damaged gall bladder into the fumet. The carcass, wing tips, neck, clean bones, and sound trimmings give depth; liver turns the reduction muddy and bitter.
• •Serve with a mature white Burgundy or a dry white Rhône with enough body for pheasant and cream. Keep the accompaniment restrained, such as buttered spinach or a small gratin of celeriac, because the mousseline and its sauce are already complete.

Advance Preparation

• •The fumet may be prepared up to two days ahead, cooled quickly, and kept covered in the cold. Reheat it before building the sauce.
• •The uncooked mousseline mixture may be made up to six hours ahead and held tightly covered over a bowl of ice in the cold. Do not leave it at room temperature while preparing the table.
• •The mousselines may be poached earlier the same day. Keep them in their moulds, covered and chilled, then warm them gently in a fresh bain-marie before unmoulding. Make and mount the sauce just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)