Moulded Eggs à la Carignan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4 individual metal Madeleine-moulds or oval metal ramekins, each 3½ to 4 ounces (100 to 120 ml)
• •Small food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small heavy saucier
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Thin flexible knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Make cold forcemeat

   Keep the chicken, egg white, cream, and processor bowl thoroughly cold. Pulse the chicken with the measured salt and white pepper until it forms a sticky paste, scrape down the bowl, then pulse in the egg white. Add all but the reserved teaspoon of cream in a thin stream and stop as soon as the farce de volaille, the fine chicken forcemeat, becomes smooth and cohesive. Press it through a fine sieve for the cleanest shell pattern. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water until cooked through, then taste and correct the seasoning. If the farce grows loose or greasy, it has become too warm. Stop, chill it over ice until firm, then work in the reserved cold cream. Do not force a warm emulsion to behave.

2. 2

   Reduce the sauce

   Combine the wine, shallot, mushroom trimmings, thyme, and bay leaf in a small saucier. Boil briskly until about 2 tablespoons remain and the wine smells rounded rather than raw. Add the stock and simmer until reduced to about ⅔ cup, glossy enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain into a clean pan and discard the aromatics. Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time, then add the lemon juice and tarragon. Taste before adding salt. If the sauce separates, put a teaspoon of cold water in a clean pan and whisk the broken sauce into it gradually. Ça se rattrape. Hold the sauce over warm, never simmering, water.

3. 3

   Line the moulds

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Butter four individual Madeleine-moulds, narrow scallop-shell moulds holding about 3½ to 4 ounces each. Spread the cold farce over the base and sides in an even layer about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick, leaving no gaps and stopping just below the rim. If using beurre d’écrevisse instead, spread 1 tablespoon inside each buttered mould. Set the moulds level in a deep roasting pan. Break each egg into a cup first, then slide it into the centre of a prepared mould so no shell or broken yolk spoils the batch. Season lightly.

4. 4

   Poach very gently

   Pour very hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the moulds. Cover loosely with a lid or foil, leaving one corner open so excess moisture can escape. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, checking at 9 minutes. The water should barely tremble, the egg whites should be opaque but softly yielding, and the thin chicken lining should register 165°F (74°C) at its outer edge. If the bath begins bubbling, lift the pan out, add a little cool water to the bath, and lower the oven by 20°F (10°C). If the white remains translucent, return the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Moulds lined with beurre d’écrevisse usually need only 7 to 9 minutes because there is no poultry layer to cook.

5. 5

   Fry matching croûtons

   While the eggs poach, use an empty mould as a template to cut the bread into four elongated ovals matching its outline. Melt the frying butter in a broad pan over medium heat. When its foam subsides, fry the croûtons until deep butter-gold and crisp on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Butter, not oil. The browned milk solids belong to the flavour of the dish. Drain the croûtons briefly on a rack and arrange them on a warm platter.

6. 6

   Turn out and sauce

   Lift the moulds from the bain-marie and rest them for 1 minute. Run a thin knife only around the upper rim, place a croûton over each mould, and invert the two together so the egg lands directly on its toast. If one clings, set the bottom of the mould back in the hot water for 5 seconds, loosen the rim again, and try once more. Nappe each egg with warm sauce Châteaubriand, coating it generously while leaving a little shell pattern visible. Serve immediately, while the toast remains crisp and the yolk soft. À table!

Chef Tips

• •An ordinary modern madeleine tin is too shallow for a whole egg. Use four jumbo individual shell moulds holding 3½ to 4 ounces each; small oval metal ramekins preserve the cooking method when the scallop shape cannot be found.
• •The stock must have body. Properly chilled stock should wobble softly from its natural gelatin. If your purchased stock remains watery, reduce 2½ cups (600 ml / 600 g) to the required 1¼ cups (300 ml / 300 g) before beginning the sauce.
• •The source gives beurre d’écrevisse equal standing with chicken forcemeat. It produces a richer, coral-tinted shellfish version and shortens the poach; use 1 tablespoon per mould and confirm that everyone at the table can eat shellfish.
• •Serve with a restrained white Burgundy or dry Champagne. The wine needs enough acidity to meet the butter and egg, but no heavy oak that would flatten the tarragon.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the sauce reduction through the straining stage up to 1 day ahead and refrigerate it. Reheat gently, then whisk in the cold butter, lemon, and tarragon shortly before serving.
• •The farce de volaille may be prepared up to 4 hours ahead and held covered in the cold. Line the moulds shortly before cooking so the butter remains firm and the surface stays neat.
• •Cut the croûtons earlier in the day, but fry them while the eggs poach. Once the eggs enter the moulds, cook, unmould, sauce, and serve without delay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 180g)