Cullises

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-quart heavy saucepan
• •Small saucepan
• •High-powered blender or immersion blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Large deep skillet or roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •2-quart liquid measure
• •Whisk and ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut and poach garnish

   Bring 2 cups (480 ml) of the poultry broth to the barest simmer in a small saucepan. Season the chicken breast strips with a pinch of the measured salt, add them to the broth, and poach for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once, until opaque and cooked through to 165°F (74°C). Lift them out with a slotted spoon and keep them covered. Reserve the poaching broth.

   Julienne-fashion means match-shaped strips. Keep them narrow and even so they cook at the same rate and sit neatly on the spoon.
2. 2

   Cook poultry and rice

   Put the chicken thighs and the remaining 6 cups (1.4 L) broth in a heavy saucepan and bring them slowly to a simmer. Skim away any grey froth, then stir in the unrinsed rice and 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) salt. Partly cover and cook at a quiet simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring across the bottom every few minutes, until the chicken yields completely and the rice grains have burst. The rice is the thickening, so its surface starch belongs in the pot.

3. 3

   Purée and strain finely

   Let the mixture settle off the heat for 5 minutes. Purée it with some of the reserved poaching broth until entirely smooth, working in half-full blender batches if necessary. Press the purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, using the back of a ladle and scraping the smooth cullis from the underside. Measure it, then add enough reserved or additional broth to make 8 cups (1.9 L). If the texture still feels grainy on the tongue, strain it once more. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but this fine texture is the dish.

   Never fill a blender more than halfway with a hot mixture. Loosen the center cap, cover the opening with a folded towel, and begin at low speed.
4. 4

   Boil while stirring

   Bring the strained poultry cullis to a full boil while stirring constantly along the bottom and into the corners. Boil for 1 minute, still stirring, then lower the heat. It should coat a spoon in an even veil while remaining pourable. If it is too thick, add hot broth a spoonful at a time; if it is thin, continue cooking and stirring until it gains body. If the bottom catches, do not scrape it. Pour the unburned cullis into a clean pan and strain again. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Hold in bain-marie

   Set the saucepan inside a wider pan of hot water that reaches halfway up its sides, keeping the water below a simmer. This bain-marie, a hot-water bath, holds the cullis gently without scorching its rice-thickened base. Dot the surface with the softened butter and let it spread into a continuous film, then cover the pan. Hold for no more than 30 minutes, keeping the soup at or above 140°F (60°C); the buttered surface prevents a skin.

6. 6

   Mount with cold butter

   Lift the cullis from the bain-marie and take it completely off the heat. Whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time, adding the next only when the last has disappeared, until the soup is glossy and softly thickened. If butter beads on the surface, stop adding it and whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cool broth; once the cullis is smooth, continue. Ça se rattrape. Taste for salt, fold in the poached chicken julienne, and serve immediately. Never boil the cullis after the butter is mounted. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The source allows 2 to 3 ounces of rice for each pound of fowl. This version uses the midpoint, 5 ounces (140 g) for 2 pounds (910 g) of poultry, and finishes 2 quarts with 5 ounces (142 g) butter, again the midpoint of the stated range.
• •Thigh meat gives the purée more body than breast meat and tolerates the long cooking. Breast is kept aside for the fine garnish, where its pale color and clean grain matter.
• •There is no cream here. Rice supplies the thickness and monter au beurre supplies the richness and gloss. Adding cream would blur the poultry flavor and change the formula rather than modernize it.
• •The cullis family changes its thickener with its base. For 2 pounds (910 g) game, use 6 to 8 ounces (170 to 225 g) lentils. For 2 pounds (910 g) fish, make a clear panada with 10 ounces (285 g) French bread and 2 good pints (1.14 L / about 1.17 kg) boiling salted milk. A fish cullis must never boil and must be served as soon as it is made.
• •Choose an unsalted broth with a clean poultry flavor. A heavily reduced or strongly seasoned broth becomes oppressive once rice and butter concentrate it.
• •For a dinner party, pour a dry white Burgundy with enough acidity to meet the butter. Bring the soupière to the table and serve the cullis at once; its sheen is loveliest before it waits.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook, purée, and strain the cullis up to one day ahead, but stop before the final butter. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat it to a boil while stirring, then use the bain-marie and mount with cold butter just before serving.
• •The chicken julienne can be poached earlier the same day, cooled promptly, and refrigerated in a spoonful of its poaching broth. Warm it gently before folding it into the finished cullis.
• •Once mounted with butter, reheat leftovers over very gentle heat while whisking and never allow them to boil. Add a spoonful of broth if the chilled cullis has tightened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)