Chaud-froid de Faisan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Snug 5-quart (4.7-liter) heavy pot
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two shallow containers and a large ice-bath basin
• •Wide saucepan for the fumet
• •Small heavy saucepan for the roux
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp muslin or a clean lint-free cloth
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
• •Deep 8-inch (20 cm) square glass or porcelain serving dish
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the pheasant

   Season the pheasant inside and out with half the salt. Set it in a snug 5-quart pot with half the onion, carrots, and celery, the bouquet garni, and the cold water; the bird should be just covered. Bring the liquid up slowly, skimming away the grey foam, then hold it at a bare tremble between 180 and 190°F (82 and 88°C). Never let it boil. Poach for 35 to 50 minutes, turning once if the bird floats, until both the thickest breast and inner thigh register 165°F (74°C).

   A hard boil tightens the lean pheasant and clouds the liquor needed for the aspic. Gentle movement, not bubbling, is the correct poach.
2. 2

   Cool in the liquor

   Take the pot off the heat and leave the pheasant in its liquor for 15 minutes. Transfer the bird to a snug shallow container, strain enough liquor over it to cover, and divide the remainder between shallow containers. Set them in ice baths, stir the exposed liquor frequently, and replace the ice as it melts. Chill below 70°F (21°C) within 2 hours and to 40°F (4°C) within another 2 hours, then refrigerate. Cooling in the liquor protects the meat; leaving a deep hot pot on the counter does not.

   The reference method cools the bird in its cooking liquor. The ice bath preserves that essential step while bringing the pheasant safely through the cooling range.
3. 3

   Make the fumet

   Lift the cold pheasant from the liquor and dry it. Remove each leg, separate thighs from drumsticks, take off both breasts, and cut each breast across into two neat portions, giving 8 pieces. Strip away every scrap of skin and refrigerate the meat, covered. Chop the wings and carcass into several pieces. Melt 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter in a wide saucepan and brown the bones, wings, neck, and gizzard well; leave out the liver. Add the remaining onion, carrots, and celery and let their edges color. Pour in 3 cups (720 ml / 720 g) strained poaching liquor, scrape up the browned fond, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain, pressing lightly, then reduce to 1¾ cups (420 ml / 420 g). Reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) in the cold and keep the rest hot. This concentrated liquor is the pheasant fumet.

4. 4

   Clarify the aspic

   Measure 4½ cups (1.05 liters / 1.05 kg) cold, defatted poaching liquor into a clean saucepan. Stir in the lightly beaten egg whites, then heat very slowly while scraping the bottom until the whites gather into a raft at the surface. Stop stirring, open a small hole in the raft, and hold the liquor at the faintest simmer for 15 minutes. Ladle it through a damp fine cloth without pressing. Cool ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of the clarified liquor, sprinkle over 5¼ teaspoons (26 ml / 15 g) gelatin, and leave it for 5 minutes. Dissolve this bloom in the remaining warm liquor, then season slightly more boldly than seems necessary with salt and white pepper because cold mutes both. Pour 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) into a deep 8-inch (20 cm) square serving dish and chill until set. Keep the remaining aspic fluid over cool water.

   If the raft breaks and the liquor clouds, stop stirring and take the pan off the heat. Let the solids settle for 10 minutes, then strain again through fresh damp cloth. Ça se rattrape.
5. 5

   Build the brown sauce

   Sprinkle the remaining 1¾ teaspoons (9 ml / 5 g) gelatin over the reserved 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) cold fumet and leave it to bloom. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a saucepan, add the flour, and cook this roux over medium-low heat until it reaches a deep hazelnut brown and smells toasted, not burnt. Whisk in the hot fumet a little at a time, keeping the sauce smooth, then simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until about 1¼ cups (300 ml / 300 g) remain. It should be nappant, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat, whisk in the bloomed gelatin, pass it through a fine sieve, and stir over an ice bath until it cools to about 88 to 92°F (31 to 33°C) and falls from the spoon in a broad, level ribbon.

   Test the sauce on one cold piece. If it runs off transparently, return it to the ice bath and stir for another minute. If it lands in ridges, warm the bowl briefly over hot water until the sauce flows again. Ça se rattrape.
6. 6

   Coat and decorate

   Use Poularde en Chaud-froid (No. 1689) whole as the coating, truffle decoration, cold-jelly glaze, and deep-dish aspic framework, substituting only the pheasant pieces and the brown chaud-froid sauce. Pat each chilled piece absolutely dry, dip it in the flowing sauce, and lift it onto a rack over a tray. Spoon a little sauce over any bare patch before the coating sets. Place one fine truffle slice on each tacky piece and chill for 10 minutes. Brush each piece lightly with cold but still-fluid aspic, then arrange them side by side on the set aspic base. Bring the remaining aspic to the half-melted stage, fluid but beginning to thicken like loose egg white, and pour it slowly down the side of the dish, around and finally over the pheasant. If the brown coating begins to loosen, the aspic is too warm; stop, chill it for several minutes, and continue only when it thickens.

7. 7

   Set and serve

   Chill the dish uncovered for 30 minutes so the surface sets cleanly, then cover without touching the aspic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Bring it to the table directly in its deep dish and serve it cool, cutting through the aspic around each portion with a warm, dry knife. A carved ice block adds nothing at home; if the chaud-froid must wait on a buffet, nest the dish in crushed ice and keep it there for no longer than 2 hours. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for a fully dressed farmed pheasant of about 2½ to 3 pounds (1.1 to 1.4 kg). Its size and tenderness are predictable. A wild bird can be magnificent, but its age varies, so judge the poach by temperature rather than minutes and check carefully for shot.
• •This recipe assumes powdered gelatin of roughly 200 Bloom strength. Weigh it. Too much produces rubber, while too little lets the coating slump and the aspic collapse on the serving spoon.
• •A good preserved black truffle is the honest classical pantry answer when fresh truffles aren't in season. Drain and dry it before slicing so its liquor doesn't mark the brown coating.
• •Serve the chaud-froid cool rather than painfully cold, with toasted brioche or thin buttered bread and a dry white Burgundy. The wine needs enough body for pheasant, but no sweetness against the aspic.
• •Refrigerate leftovers promptly and eat them within 2 days. Keep the aspic-covered pheasant below 40°F (4°C) whenever it isn't being served.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach and chill the pheasant in its liquor the day before assembly. Kept covered below 40°F (4°C), it remains moist and becomes much easier to portion neatly.
• •The clarified aspic and brown chaud-froid sauce may be made a day ahead and chilled separately. Rewarm each gently over hot water, never to a boil, then cool it back to the required coating or half-melted consistency.
• •The assembled chaud-froid is best made 12 to 24 hours before serving. Keep it covered once the surface has set, and remove it from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before it reaches the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)