Veal Forcemeat with Fat or Godiveau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital kitchen scale
• •7-cup / 1.7 L food processor
• •Shallow refrigerator-safe dish
• •Flexible spatula
• •Small saucepan
• •Slotted spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill and trim

   Refrigerate the food processor bowl, blade, veal, suet, and egg for at least 30 minutes. Trim every tendon and strip of silverskin from the veal. Pare the suet just as carefully, removing its membrane, skin, and stringy filaments, then pat both ingredients dry and cut them into small cubes. Cold, dry ingredients cut cleanly; warm fat smears before the binding has even begun.

   Beef kidney suet is the firm, dry fat surrounding the kidneys. Rendered beef tallow is already melted and reset, so it cannot replace the suet in this preparation.
2. 2

   Chop them separately

   Pulse the veal alone until it resembles a fine, even mince, then scrape it into a chilled bowl. Pulse the suet separately until finely chopped, stopping before it becomes greasy. Return the veal, add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and process in short bursts until the two become a homogeneous, tacky mass. If the bowl loses its chill or free fat glistens around the blade, stop at once and refrigerate everything for 15 minutes. Ça se rattrape if you catch the warmth before the suet melts.

3. 3

   Work in the egg

   Beat the chilled egg just enough to combine the white and yolk. With the processor pulsing, add it in three small portions, allowing each portion to disappear completely before the next goes in. Scrape the bowl between additions and keep the pulses brief. The old quantity accepted four eggs one after another; at this home scale, dividing a single weighed egg preserves that same gradual binding.

4. 4

   Rest it overnight

   Spread the Godiveau about ½ inch thick in a shallow chilled dish, press parchment directly against the surface, cover, and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours at 40°F / 4°C or colder. The rest firms the suet and gives the salt time to draw out the proteins that hold the paste together. Do not omit it. This is the dish, not brigade scaffolding.

5. 5

   Beat in the ice

   Return the cold mixture to the chilled processor and pulse it briefly to loosen it. Add the 3½ ounces / 100 grams of ice or iced water in six to eight small additions, processing only until each is absorbed before adding more. The Godiveau should become paler, lighter, and supple enough to hold a soft mound. If it turns oily or grainy, stop. Chill it for 15 minutes, then resume with a teaspoon of the measured ice water; forcing a warm mixture only separates it further.

6. 6

   Poach and correct

   Bring the water and poaching salt to a boil, then lower the heat until bubbles rise steadily without tossing the food. Drop in a rounded teaspoon of Godiveau and poach it until cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes, or until its centre reaches 160°F / 71°C. Let it cool for half a minute, then cut and taste it. It should hold its shape while remaining tender and light. If it is too firm, beat in additional ice or iced water 1 teaspoon at a time. If it is flimsy or breaks apart, beat in the egg white 1 teaspoon at a time. Test again after either correction. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Use it promptly

   Use the corrected Godiveau at once, or cover it closely and refrigerate it at 40°F / 4°C or colder until later the same day. For a shaped garnish or side dish, reach for Forcemeat Balls or Quenelles (No. 205) and use this batch as its finished forcemeat; its shaping and poaching remain in that separate preparation. When Godiveau is used as a stuffing, cook its centre to at least 160°F / 71°C, or 165°F / 74°C inside poultry. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher specifically for dry beef kidney suet, not rendered tallow and not ordinary beef trimmings. The source uses twice as much suet as veal by weight, and that generous proportion is what gives Godiveau its particular texture.
• •A digital scale matters here. The book's ratio has been reduced exactly to one quarter: one part veal, two parts suet, one egg, and ⅞ part ice by the veal's weight. The volume measures are practical guides, but the weights preserve the preparation.
• •The food processor replaces the mortar honestly because it chops and pounds at once, but its motor also creates heat. Short pulses and repeated chilling are part of the method, not excessive caution.
• •The test poach judges binding as well as seasoning. A firm morsel needs moisture, while one that slumps needs the setting power of egg white. Correct in teaspoons and retest, because a small adjustment travels through the whole batch.
• •Wine follows the finished preparation, not the raw forcemeat. Godiveau inside a rich pastry may want a dry white Burgundy, while poached quenelles in a delicate sauce ask for something lighter.

Advance Preparation

• •Complete the first mixing the evening before service and give the spread Godiveau its full 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Finish it with the ice and test poach the next day.
• •The veal and suet may be trimmed, weighed, and cubed earlier in the day, then refrigerated separately in covered containers until the processor bowl is cold.
• •Once the overnight-rested mixture has been finished and corrected, cook it the same day. Freezing the raw emulsion risks a greasy, coarse texture when it thaws.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 123g)