Suprêmes de Faisan Châtelaine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Deep 8-inch (20 cm) square glass or porcelain serving dish
• •Food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Two small heavy saucepans
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
• •Large bowl or shallow pan for an ice bath
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the suprêmes

   Complete Chaud-froid Felix Faure (No. 1691) as its separate preparation, using two large pheasant suprêmes instead of pullet and scaling only the quantity, never the method. Stop after the poached suprêmes have cooled under light pressure and been cut crosswise into 20 equal medallions. Keep them covered and thoroughly cold while you make the Châtelaine finish.

   The reference preparation supplies the filled, poached pheasant medallions. Do not continue into its own mousse coating or moulded presentation, because Châtelaine gives those medallions a different two-colour finish.
2. 2

   Make the clear aspic

   Pour the ice-cold water into a bowl and rain the gelatin evenly across its surface. Leave it for 10 minutes, until every granule has swollen and no dry islands remain. Warm the consommé just below a simmer, remove it from the heat, and stir in the bloomed gelatin until perfectly clear. Taste and season lightly, remembering that the sauces and mousses will carry their own salt. Strain through a damp fine cloth into a clean bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup (60 ml) for the two mousses and 1/2 cup (120 ml) for the two chaud-froid sauces, keeping those portions fluid; set the remainder over crushed ice until it thickens to the consistency of light oil. If it sets solid, ça se rattrape: warm it gently over barely hot water until fluid again, never boiling it.

3. 3

   Blend the two mousses

   For the chicken mousse, process the cold chicken with 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (35 ml / 30 g) butter until very fine. Add 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) cold cream and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) reserved fluid aspic, then process only until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper, and press the mousse through a fine sieve into a bowl set over ice. Repeat with the pheasant meat and the same quantities of butter, cream, and aspic. A mousse is a light poultry paste here, not a raw forcemeat, so both meats must already be fully cooked and cold. If either mousse looks oily, it became too warm; set it over ice and beat in a teaspoon of the measured cold cream until it comes together.

4. 4

   Dome and harden

   Divide the cold medallions into two groups of 10. Spread the chicken mousse over the first group and the pheasant mousse over the second, making a smooth rounded dome about 1/4 inch thick while leaving the bottom flat. Set the medallions on a wire rack over a tray and chill them directly over crushed ice for 45 minutes, or until the mousse feels firm and dry under a gentle fingertip. This is the step that decides the dish. If the mousse smears, do not glaze it. Ça se rattrape: smooth the surface again with a cold knife, return it to the ice, and wait until it sets hard.

5. 5

   Cook the white sauce

   Melt 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (22 ml / 15 g) butter in a small saucepan. Stir in 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g) flour and cook gently for 2 minutes without letting it colour; this is a roux blanc, a white roux. Gradually whisk in the clear chicken stock and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 90 g) cream and reduce until the sauce reaches nappe, meaning it coats the back of a spoon and holds a clean line drawn through it. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/4 cup (60 ml) reserved fluid aspic. Strain, season with salt and white pepper, then cool over ice until barely tepid and thick enough to fall from a spoon in a broad ribbon.

6. 6

   Cook the brown sauce

   Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (22 ml / 15 g) butter in a second small saucepan and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g) flour. Cook with attention until the roux turns a deep hazelnut brown and smells toasted, not burnt. Whisk in the browned pheasant or chicken stock a little at a time, scraping the corners of the pan so no flour hides there. Simmer until reduced by roughly one-third and thick enough to coat a spoon. Remove from the heat, whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup (60 ml) reserved fluid aspic, strain, season, and cool over ice to the same broad-ribbon consistency as the white sauce.

7. 7

   Coat and decorate

   Keep the medallions on their rack. Coat the 10 medallions domed with chicken mousse in the brown chaud-froid sauce, spooning it over the top and down every side. Coat the 10 medallions domed with pheasant mousse in the white chaud-froid sauce. The reversal is deliberate and belongs to the source preparation. If a sauce slides off and exposes the mousse, it is too warm or too thin; return it to the ice until it thickens, then apply another light coat. Press one small piece of truffle into each coating while it remains tacky, and chill for 20 minutes until firm.

8. 8

   Set beneath aspic

   Spoon a 1/8-inch layer of the thickened clear aspic into a deep 8-inch square dish and chill it until set. Arrange the medallions in five rows of four, alternating brown and white like a checkerboard. Spoon more aspic carefully down the side of the dish until it reaches halfway up the medallions, then chill for 15 minutes to anchor them. Add the remaining aspic until the medallions are covered by about 1/4 inch. If they begin to float, stop pouring and chill the partial layer until it grips them; then finish the covering. The aspic must be fluid but cool, since warm jelly would soften the chaud-froid coating.

9. 9

   Serve over ice

   Chill the completed dish for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight, until the aspic is completely firm and lucid. Nest the square dish in a shallow tray of crushed ice shortly before serving, keeping water from the melting ice below the rim. Cut between the medallions with a small knife and lift portions with a broad serving spoon so each guest receives both colours. Keep the dish cold throughout service. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order pheasant ahead and ask for the breasts as intact suprêmes. Keep enough leg meat for the pheasant mousse; its darker flavour is what distinguishes that half of the dish from the chicken mousse.
• •Clarity matters more than homemade pride. If your pheasant cooking liquor is cloudy, use a good clear chicken consommé for the aspic and save the cloudy liquor for another sauce. A murky jelly hides the alternating colours.
• •Use unsalted stock for the brown chaud-froid sauce. It reduces substantially, and a stock seasoned for soup can become harsh before the sauce reaches nappe.
• •Keep the finished dish at or below 40°F (4°C) and return it to the cold after serving. It keeps for up to two days, well covered, but freezing damages both the aspic and the mousses.
• •Pour a dry Champagne or a firm white Burgundy. The wine needs enough acidity for foie gras, butter, and aspic, but no sweetness against the pheasant and truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the pheasant suprêmes through poaching, pressing, and slicing the day before assembly. Keep the medallions tightly covered in the cold.
• •The chicken and pheasant mousses can be made several hours ahead and held over ice. Beat each briefly before doming if it has become too firm to spread.
• •Assemble the entire aspic the day before the dinner. The extra time gives every layer a clean set and leaves only the crushed-ice service tray to arrange before guests sit down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 600g)