Chicken Forcemeat with Panada and Cream

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •7-cup or larger food processor
• •8-inch fine-mesh sieve or tamis
• •Firm flexible bowl scraper
• •Two large stainless-steel mixing bowls for an ice bath
• •Wooden spoon and broad spatula
• •Electric hand mixer or balloon whisk
• •2-quart saucepan
• •Two matching tablespoons for shaping
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the cold station

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade, fine-mesh sieve, two metal mixing bowls, wooden spoon, and flexible scraper for 20 minutes. Fill the larger mixing bowl with ice and nest the smaller bowl inside it. Keep the chicken, egg white, panada, and both portions of cream at 40°F (4°C) or colder without freezing them. Cold is not ceremony here; it preserves the emulsion that gives the farce its fine, tender body.

   A bowl that feels merely cool is not enough. It should feel sharply cold against your palm before the chicken enters it.
2. 2

   Purée the chicken

   Cut the trimmed chicken into ¾-inch pieces and combine it in the chilled processor with the salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Process in short pulses, stopping frequently to scrape the bowl, until the meat becomes a fine, sticky paste with no visible pieces. If it starts feeling warm or rises above 50°F (10°C), spread it against the cold bowl and refrigerate it for 10 minutes before continuing. Speed saves the arm, but it must not warm the meat.

3. 3

   Work in the binders

   With the processor running, add the 2 tablespoons of cold egg white in four small additions, allowing each to disappear before the next. Break the C. Frangipan Panada (No. 192) into small pieces and add it gradually in the same fashion. Process only until the mixture is completely even, smooth, and tacky. The machine replaces the pestle, nothing more; adding everything at once would leave slippery pockets that the later cream cannot repair.

4. 4

   Sieve and chill

   Set the fine-mesh sieve over the chilled bowl and force the farce through with a firm flexible scraper, working in small portions and scraping the underside clean. Tendons or coarse fibers left behind belong in the bin, not the quenelle. Spread the sieved farce in the bowl, press reusable wrap directly against its surface, and refrigerate it for a full hour. The processor is the modern scaffolding; this sieving and rest are part of the dish.

5. 5

   Beat in the cream

   Return the bowl to its ice bath and stir the farce vigorously for several seconds with the wooden spoon. Add the 1 cup of unwhipped cream about 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until each addition has vanished completely before adding more. The farce should grow paler, softer, and glossy without becoming loose. If cream begins to pool or leave oily streaks, stop and chill the mixture for 10 minutes before resuming. If it has already turned grainy and begun to weep, Ça se rattrape: blend 2 tablespoons of the cold mixture with 1 teaspoon of the reserved egg white in the chilled processor until tacky, then add the broken mixture back one spoonful at a time. Return it to the ice before continuing.

6. 6

   Fold in whipped cream

   Whip the remaining ½ cup of cream in a chilled bowl just until it forms soft, drooping peaks. Fold it into the cold farce in three additions with a broad spatula, turning the bowl and lifting from underneath so the air remains in the cream. Do not beat vigorously now. The finished farce should be very pale, smooth, and mellow, holding a soft ridge when the spatula passes through it.

7. 7

   Poach the test

   Bring the water to 180 to 185°F (82 to 85°C), with only a gentle tremble at the surface. Using two wet spoons, shape 1 tablespoon of farce into a small oval and poach it for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until it holds its form and reaches 165°F (74°C) at the center. Taste it. It should be tender and moist but cohesive. If it is too light, spreading or threatening to break, beat in cold egg white 1 teaspoon at a time, rest the farce over ice for 5 minutes, and test again. If it is too stiff or rubbery, beat in cold cream 1 tablespoon at a time and retest. This small poach is where you correct the body before the whole batch commits.

8. 8

   Hold it cold

   Press wrap directly against the finished farce and keep it refrigerated at or below 40°F (4°C), or hold the bowl over ice while shaping. Use it the same day for fine quenelles, timbales, or a delicate stuffing. This remains a raw chicken preparation after the test portion is removed, so cook every finished piece or stuffed dish to 165°F (74°C) at its center.

Chef Tips

• •Weigh the C. Frangipan Panada (No. 192) if you possibly can. Its density changes with cooking and chilling, while 100 grams preserves the book's proportion exactly. It is a savory panada, not almond frangipane, and the two are not substitutes.
• •In the old wording, raw cream means liquid, unwhipped cream, not unpasteurized cream. Use pasteurized heavy cream with enough fat to emulsify properly. The first portion goes in liquid; the second is whipped separately and folded in.
• •Chicken breast gives the pale color and clean flavor wanted here, but every strip of tendon must come out. Technique first: carefully trimmed everyday chicken makes a finer farce than expensive meat hurried through the processor.
• •The sieve is tiresome for several minutes and worth every one. A processor makes the particles small; the sieve removes the stubborn fibers that would otherwise announce themselves in a supposedly fine quenelle.
• •Never skip the test poach. Salt, tenderness, binding, and the final texture can only be judged after the proteins set, and the small test gives you time to correct all four.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare and chill the C. Frangipan Panada (No. 192) up to two days ahead, keeping it tightly covered so its surface does not dry.
• •The chicken can be trimmed and diced earlier the same day. Keep it covered in the coldest part of the refrigerator, then chill the processor and bowls shortly before mixing.
• •The completed farce may be made up to 6 hours before shaping. Press wrap against its surface and keep it below 40°F (4°C); do not leave it standing at room temperature.
• •If making quenelles for a later dish, shape and poach them fully, cool them promptly, and refrigerate them for up to two days. Rewarm them gently in their final sauce so their delicate texture remains intact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 175g)