Concombres Farcis.—A

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3 to 4-cup (700 ml to 1 litre) food processor
• •Wide 12-inch (30 cm) lidded sauté pan
• •Piping bag with a ½-inch (1.25 cm) plain opening
• •1-inch (2.5 cm) melon baller or narrow spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the cold forcemeat

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Pulse the cold chicken with the forcemeat salt and white pepper until it forms a smooth, tacky paste, stopping twice to scrape the bowl. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) of the cream, then add the remainder in three small additions, pulsing just until the mixture looks pale, glossy, and cohesive. Add the reserved cream with one final pulse. If the forcemeat turns dull, oily, or grainy, it has become too warm. Stop immediately, spread it over a cold plate, refrigerate for 15 minutes, then return it to the rechilled processor and pulse briefly until smooth. Ça se rattrape. Poach a teaspoonful in barely trembling water until its centre reaches 165°F (74°C), then taste for seasoning. Transfer the raw forcemeat to a piping bag and refrigerate it at 40°F (4°C) or colder.

   Work in short pulses. Friction warms the chicken, and warmth is what breaks this emulsion of meat, egg white, and cream.
2. 2

   Shape and parboil

   Bring a wide saucepan of water to a boil and add the blanching salt. Trim the cucumber ends, cut the cucumbers into twelve level 2-inch (5 cm) lengths, and peel each piece completely. Parboil them for 3 minutes, just until their raw stiffness begins to relax. Drain them upright on a clean towel and let the surface moisture escape for 5 minutes. Using a melon baller or narrow spoon, hollow each piece from one end, leaving a ¼-inch (6 mm) base and walls. If you pierce a base, press a thin coin cut from the cucumber core over the hole as a patch; the close arrangement in the pan will hold it in place.

   Keep the bases level and the walls even. Thin spots collapse before the forcemeat cooks, while thick walls remain unpleasantly firm.
3. 3

   Cook in butter

   Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a wide lidded sauté pan. Stand the cucumber cases side by side in one snug layer, spooning a little butter over their sides and into the cavities. Cover and cook gently for 7 to 9 minutes, basting once. They are three-parts cooked when the outer flesh looks faintly translucent and a small knife enters with gentle resistance, but the cases still stand straight. The butter should foam softly without turning brown. If it begins to colour, lower the heat and add 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) of the reserved blanching water.

4. 4

   Pipe the cases

   Take the pan off the heat. Fit the piping bag with a ½-inch (1.25 cm) plain opening, insert it nearly to the bottom of each case, and pipe while slowly withdrawing the tip. This fills the cavity without hidden air pockets. Mould the forcemeat into a modest dome about ¼ inch (6 mm) above the rim, as the source directs, and wipe any raw filling from the cucumber sides. If one case has split, brace it between two sound cases and fill it last.

5. 5

   Poach the filling

   Return the pan to the lowest heat. Pour the remaining hot blanching water around the cases, never over their domed tops, and cover tightly. Cook for 8 to 12 minutes with the liquid barely trembling. The forcemeat is ready when it is opaque, springs softly beneath a fingertip, and reaches 165°F (74°C) at the centre; insert the thermometer through the side of a dome so its shape remains intact. The cucumber should now be tender but upright. If the filling swells, cracks, or beads liquid, the heat is too fierce. Pull the covered pan off the burner for 1 minute, then finish over the gentlest heat you own.

6. 6

   Glaze and serve

   Lift the concombres farcis carefully onto a warmed oval platter. Let the pan liquid bubble for 30 seconds, then remove it from the heat and swirl until the butter and cucumber juices form a light, glossy glaze. If the glaze separates, whisk in 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) of cold water. Spoon it around the bases without covering the pale domes. Rest for 2 minutes and serve three cases to each guest while warm. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose long seedless cucumbers with straight sides and a narrow seed channel. Bulbous field cucumbers make uneven cases, and their large wet centres leave too little wall to support the filling.
• •The chicken needn't be costly, but it must stay cold. A modest breast, carefully emulsified, produces a finer forcemeat than excellent chicken allowed to warm and split. Technique first, always.
• •No breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic, herbs, or separate sauce belong in this treatment. Its flavour is deliberately quiet: cucumber, chicken, cream, white pepper, and real butter.
• •A small processor handles this quantity better than a large bowl, which may throw the chicken beneath the blade without puréeing it. Stop often and scrape.
• •Serve with a dry, mineral white wine such as Chablis. The wine should sharpen the butter and cream without overwhelming the cucumber.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days. Reheat covered over gentle heat until the forcemeat again reaches 165°F (74°C); repeated reheating makes the cucumber soft.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the chicken forcemeat up to 4 hours ahead. Keep it sealed in the piping bag at 40°F (4°C) or colder until the cucumbers are ready.
• •Cut, peel, parboil, drain, and hollow the cucumber cases up to 6 hours ahead. Refrigerate them upright in a covered container lined with a clean towel, separate from the raw forcemeat.
• •Begin the butter-cooking about 25 minutes before serving. The finished cases can wait covered for 10 minutes, but a long hold softens the cucumber and tightens the chicken.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 235g)