Soufflé de Faisan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine tamis or sturdy fine-mesh drum sieve
• •1.5-litre straight-sided soufflé dish
• •Heavy 3-quart saucepan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Metal mixing bowl and larger bowl for an ice bath
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Warm sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the mousseline gear

   Place the food-processor bowl and blade, a metal mixing bowl, and the tamis in the freezer for 20 minutes. Cut the pheasant into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces, spread them on a chilled tray, and refrigerate or freeze briefly until firm at the edges but not frozen solid. Brush the bottom and sides of a 1.5-litre straight-sided soufflé dish with the softened butter, using upward strokes on the sides, then refrigerate the dish. Cold is not housekeeping here. It is the technique.

   Set the cream inside a larger bowl of ice while you work. A kitchen can be comfortable for the cook and still be too warm for a mousseline.
2. 2

   Build the game essence

   Melt the browning butter in a heavy 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the pheasant bones and trimmings, then brown them for 12 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are deeply bronze and the pan floor carries a dark fond. Add the shallot and carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then pour in the poultry stock, reserving 2 tablespoons if you are using gelatin. Scrape the fond cleanly from the pan, add the thyme and bay leaf, and bring the liquid to a bare simmer. Skim the surface and cook uncovered for 45 minutes. This concentrated extraction is the game essence the source assumed would already be waiting at the sauce station.

3. 3

   Reduce the demi-glace

   Strain the game essence through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan without pressing the solids, which would cloud the sauce. Boil steadily until reduced to about 1 cup (240 ml), skimming whenever necessary; it should taste distinctly of pheasant and coat a spoon in a thin, glossy layer. If using gelatin, sprinkle it over the reserved cold stock, leave it for 5 minutes, then whisk it into the hot reduction until dissolved. This is the honest home equivalent of a stockpot and a separate demi-glace, small in quantity but built on a real fond and reduction. Hold it over the lowest heat.

4. 4

   Emulsify the mousseline

   Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C), with a rack in the lower third and a sturdy baking sheet inside. Put the cold pheasant and 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) of the salt in the chilled processor and pulse until very finely minced and tacky. Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) of the measured egg white in the refrigerator, then add the remainder in two additions, processing only until absorbed. Add the cream in five small additions, pulsing and scraping between each one, then add the white pepper and nutmeg. Keep the paste below 50°F (10°C). If it turns grainy or beads of fat appear, stop immediately. Chill it over ice until below 45°F (7°C), then blend 2 tablespoons of the split paste with the reserved egg white in the clean, chilled processor and feed the remaining paste back by spoonfuls. Ça se rattrape. If the emulsion remains smooth, pulse in the reserved egg white at the end.

5. 5

   Sieve and test

   Press the mousseline through the chilled tamis into the cold metal bowl, scraping from beneath so none of the smooth paste is lost. Set the bowl over ice. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water for 3 to 4 minutes, until cooked through, then taste it. It should hold together cleanly yet feel tender rather than springy. If it feathers apart, chill the paste for 15 minutes and test again; if it still breaks, process in the optional egg white 1 tablespoon at a time, using only enough to make the next test hold. If the seasoning tastes flat, work in a pinch from the reserved salt. The food processor replaces the mortar, but the tamis and the test stay. They are the difference between minced pheasant and mousseline.

6. 6

   Fill the soufflé dish

   Spoon the mousseline into the chilled buttered dish, pressing gently enough to prevent hidden air pockets without compacting it. Fill the dish no more than three-quarters full and shape the surface into a shallow dome with a cold spatula. Wipe the rim perfectly clean. Do not flour or crumb the dish; the source asks for butter, and butter is enough.

7. 7

   Bake at moderate heat

   Set the dish on the hot baking sheet and bake for 35 to 45 minutes without opening the oven during the first 25 minutes. The soufflé is ready when its crown is butter-gold with a fine central crack and the centre registers 160°F (71°C); rest it for 5 minutes and confirm that carryover heat brings the centre to 165°F (74°C). If the top colours too quickly before the centre is ready, lay foil loosely over it and reduce the oven to 325°F (165°C). A fierce oven sets the crown too soon, but caught at this stage, ça se rattrape. Return the dish briefly to the oven if the centre does not reach its safe temperature.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   As the soufflé finishes, bring the demi-glace back to a bare simmer. If it has tightened too far, loosen it with a spoonful of stock; if it runs like broth, reduce it a little longer. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the cold diced butter until the surface gleams, then use any remaining reserved salt only if the sauce needs it. Pour the demi-glace into a warm sauceboat. Carry the Soufflé de Faisan to the table in its baking dish and serve the sauce separately, spooning it beside each portion rather than over the crown. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for two whole pheasants and have the butcher remove the breasts while keeping the carcasses, necks, wing tips, and clean trimmings for you. The legs can go into another braise. If the birds were wild-shot, inspect the meat carefully for pellets and trim away damaged flesh.
• •Heavy cream means at least 36 percent fat. Lower-fat dairy weakens the emulsion and leaves the forcemeat watery; butter and cream are structure here, not decoration.
• •Do not skip the tamis because the processor made the paste look smooth. Pheasant has fine connective tissue that the blade shortens but does not remove, and the sieve gives the finished mousseline its close, delicate crumb.
• •Use a straight-sided 1.5-litre soufflé dish rather than individual ramekins. The source sets the mousseline in one buttered soufflé saucepan, and the shared dish keeps its centre more tender while preserving the intended table presentation.
• •A supple red Burgundy suits the pheasant and its dark reduction without overpowering the cream. Serve modest glasses; the sauce has plenty to say.

Advance Preparation

• •The game essence may be strained and reduced up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate it promptly and reheat it gently, whisking in the finishing butter only when the soufflé is nearly ready.
• •The pheasant can be trimmed and diced earlier in the day, then held covered below 40°F (4°C). Chill the processor parts, bowl, tamis, cream, and buttered dish before beginning the mousseline.
• •The finished raw mousseline may be kept over ice or tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. Bake it close to serving time; once cooked, its proudest texture waits for no dinner-party speech.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)