Chef Juliette
Butters and Creams
Beurres et crèmes d’hors-d’œuvre prove that cold-table finesse is mostly timing: smooth good dairy, cover it closely, hold it cool, then season only as you dish so every spoonful keeps a clean edge.
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Duchesses à la Sultane
Created by Chef Juliette
Tiny choux with crisp, hollow shells, a satin fowl purée enriched by pistachio butter, and a clear jelly gloss under chopped pistachios: green on green, made for passing with drinks.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
Special Occasion
1 hr
Active Time
50 min cook•2 hr 30 min total
Yield24 duchesses, 6 appetizer servings
Duchesses à la Sultane (little choux filled with pistachio fowl purée) teaches control of moisture in miniature. Before touching a pan, know this: the choux must be baked hollow and dry, because no filling or glaze can make a damp shell light.
The old formula assumed a pastry station, cooked fowl on hand, a stock never off the fire, pistachio butter worked in a mortar, and a garde-manger with clarified jelly waiting. Your home equivalent is one chicken breast gently poached in good stock, a small processor in place of the mortar and sieve, and gelatin to give that stock a clean, delicate set. The separate kitchen stations were brigade scaffolding, so they go. The little choux, the fowl purée completed with pistachio butter, the jelly glaze, and the chopped pistachios are the dish, so every one stays.
What changes is the scale and labor, not the intent: twenty-four generous bites, made by one cook, one stove, one evening. Dry the panade until a film forms across the saucepan before you add the first egg. That hollow shell is the foundation for everything that follows.
Duchesses à la Sultane belong to the Parisian grand-kitchen tradition of cold hors d'oeuvre, where pâte à choux became an edible case for finely pounded poultry and aspic supplied the polished finish. The title does not place the dish in a French region or at an Ottoman household table; here à la Sultane names its pistachio character, green worked through the butter and repeated over the glaze. From formal dining rooms, such filled choux passed naturally onto bourgeois reception buffets, where their make-ahead nature and one-bite scale suited a gathering.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
water
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 120 g)
unsalted butter for the choux
Quantity
3½ tablespoons (52 ml / 50 g)
cut into pieces
fine salt for the choux
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g)
all-purpose flour
Quantity
⅝ cup (150 ml / 75 g)
sifted
large eggs
Quantity
2 large eggs (about 100 g out of shell)
beaten
blanched unsalted pistachios
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 100 g)
divided
unsalted butter for the pistachio butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons (60 ml / 56 g)
softened
clear unsalted chicken stock
Quantity
2 cups (480 ml / 480 g)
boneless, skinless chicken breast
Quantity
10 ounces (285 g)
heavy cream
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 80 g)
well chilled
fine salt for the filling
Quantity
¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4.5 g)
ground white pepper
Quantity
⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.25 g)
unflavored powdered gelatin
Quantity
1¼ teaspoons (6 ml / 4 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| water | ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
| unsalted butter for the chouxcut into pieces | 3½ tablespoons (52 ml / 50 g) |
| fine salt for the choux | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) |
| all-purpose floursifted | ⅝ cup (150 ml / 75 g) |
| large eggsbeaten | 2 large eggs (about 100 g out of shell) |
| blanched unsalted pistachiosdivided | ¾ cup (180 ml / 100 g) |
| unsalted butter for the pistachio buttersoftened | 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 56 g) |
| clear unsalted chicken stock | 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) |
| boneless, skinless chicken breast | 10 ounces (285 g) |
| heavy creamwell chilled | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 80 g) |
| fine salt for the filling | ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4.5 g) |
| ground white pepper | ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.25 g) |
| unflavored powdered gelatin | 1¼ teaspoons (6 ml / 4 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •2-quart (2-liter) saucepan
- •Mini food processor
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Parchment-lined sheet pan
- •Two piping bags with plain tips
- •Fine pastry brush
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Make pistachio butter
Set aside ¼ cup (60 ml / 30 g) of the pistachios and chop them finely for the finish. Grind the remaining ½ cup (120 ml / 70 g) in a mini processor until very fine, stopping before they turn oily. Add the softened butter and process to a smooth, pale-green paste. Scrape the pistachio butter into a small bowl and keep it cool but pliable.
Don't toast the pistachios. Toasting gives fine flavor elsewhere, but here it dulls their green color and overwhelms the delicate poultry. - 2
Poach the fowl
Put the chicken breast and stock in a small saucepan. Bring the liquid just to a tremble over medium-low heat, then lower the heat and poach gently until the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C), about 12 to 16 minutes. A boil tightens the meat and gives you a grainy purée, so keep the surface quiet. Lift out the chicken and let it cool. Strain the stock, reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) for the filling, then reduce 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) of the remaining stock to ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) for the jelly. Cool the reduced stock completely.
- 3
Cook the panade
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with a rack in the center. Bring the water, choux butter, and salt to a full boil in a medium saucepan. Take the pan off the heat, add all the flour at once, and beat firmly with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Return it to medium heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until the panade gathers into a smooth ball and leaves a thin film across the bottom of the pan. This drying is the step that makes room for the eggs and gives the choux their hollow center.
- 4
Beat and pipe
Let the panade cool for 3 minutes, then beat in the egg a little at a time, fully incorporating each addition before the next. Hold back the final spoonful until you check the texture: the dough should be glossy and fall from the spoon in a heavy V, not pour like batter. If it remains stiff, add the reserved egg by teaspoons. Pipe twenty-four rounds about 1¼ inches (3 cm) wide onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving room between them, then smooth the points with a damp fingertip.
- 5
Bake the choux
Bake for 10 minutes without opening the oven, then reduce the heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for another 14 to 18 minutes. The choux are ready when they are evenly golden, firm at the sides, and light for their size. Pierce each one near the base with a skewer, return them to the turned-off oven with the door slightly open, and let them dry for 8 minutes. Cool completely on a rack. If any shells begin to sag, return them to a 325°F (165°C) oven for 8 minutes, then cool again; a little more drying restores them.
- 6
Finish the purée
Cut the cooled chicken into small pieces and process it with the reserved 2 tablespoons of stock until finely ground. Add the cold cream gradually and process until the purée is smooth, thick, and soft enough to pipe. Press it through a fine-mesh sieve for the classical silk, then beat in the pistachio butter, salt, and white pepper. The pistachio butter goes in last because it completes the fowl purée rather than replacing it. If the filling feels loose, chill it for 20 minutes before judging it; the butter will firm, and the purée should hold a soft peak without becoming heavy.
- 7
Set the jelly glaze
Put 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the cold reduced stock in a bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it, and leave it for 5 minutes. Warm the remaining reduced stock until hot but not boiling, then stir in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved. Strain it and set the bowl over ice, stirring occasionally, until the jelly lightly coats a pastry brush like thin syrup. If it sets solid, warm the bowl over barely warm water; if it runs straight off the brush, return it to the ice. Ça se rattrape.
- 8
Fill the choux
Make a small opening in the base of each cooled chou with a paring knife. Transfer the cold fowl purée to a piping bag fitted with a narrow plain tip and fill each shell until it feels satisfyingly heavy, without forcing it until it splits. If a base cracks, cut a small lid from the top, spoon in the filling, and replace the lid; the jelly will soften the seam.
- 9
Glaze and crown
Arrange the filled choux on a rack over a tray. Brush each one with a thin, complete coat of the syrupy poultry jelly, then immediately sprinkle a little chopped pistachio over its crown before the glaze sets. Chill for 20 minutes, just until the jelly is clear and firm. Serve cool rather than numbingly cold, preferably within 3 hours of filling. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Buy blanched, unsalted pistachios if you can. Their clean green color is part of the dish, and salted snack nuts make both the butter and the jelly taste coarse.
- •A modest chicken breast is splendid here when it is poached gently. Technique first, always. Boiling dries the fibers, and no quantity of cream can turn dry chicken back into a silken purée.
- •The jelly must reach the consistency of thin syrup before brushing. Liquid stock soaks the choux, while fully set jelly drags and clumps; the brief stage between them gives a clear, even gloss.
- •Serve the duchesses with a dry Champagne or a mineral Chablis. Both cut through the butter and cream without trampling the pistachio.
Advance Preparation
- •Bake the empty choux one day ahead and keep them airtight once completely cool. Recrisp them for 5 minutes in a 325°F (165°C) oven, then cool before filling.
- •The pistachio butter and fowl purée can be prepared one day ahead and refrigerated separately. Let the butter soften slightly before beating it into the purée.
- •The poultry jelly can be made up to three days ahead. Melt it gently and cool it back to a thin syrup before glazing.
- •Fill and glaze the duchesses no more than 3 hours before serving. Keep them refrigerated, then let them stand for 10 minutes before they go to the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 130g)
Calories
400 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
480 mg
Total Carbohydrates
15 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
19 g
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