Moulded Eggs à la Duchesse

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Four 4-ounce (120 ml) metal baba-moulds or tapered dariole moulds
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Potato ricer or fine food mill
• •Piping bag with a 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) open-star tip
• •Small rimmed baking sheet
• •Wide 1-quart (1-liter) saucepan
• •Thin flexible paring knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Reduce the veal gravy

   Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C), with a rack in the upper third, and line a small baking sheet. Pour the veal stock into a wide saucepan and hold it at a lively simmer until reduced to 1 cup (240 ml), about 20 to 25 minutes. Mash the softened butter and flour together until completely smooth, then whisk the beurre manié into the simmering stock in small pieces. Simmer for 3 minutes, whisking, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon in an even film. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and a small pinch of white pepper. Cover and hold over the gentlest heat. If it tightens while waiting, whisk in hot water a teaspoon at a time; if it remains thin, simmer it uncovered for another minute or two.

   Veal stocks vary in strength. Judge the gravy by the spoon, not the clock: it should cling without setting into paste, because it will thicken slightly as it waits.
2. 2

   Make the Duchesse potatoes

   Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover them with cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm), and add 1 tablespoon of the salt. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, until a knife passes through without resistance. Drain thoroughly, return the potatoes to the dry pan, and shake them over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to drive off surface moisture. Press them through a potato ricer while hot. Beat in the 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and another small pinch of white pepper. Let the purée cool for 2 minutes, then beat in 2 egg yolks just until smooth. It must hold a clean ridge; if it slumps, spread it on a plate and chill it for 10 minutes. Don't add flour, which makes the galettes heavy.

3. 3

   Pipe and gild galettes

   Fit a piping bag with a 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) open-star tip and fill it with the warm Duchesse potatoes. Pipe four tight, solid spiral galettes on the lined sheet, each about 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide and 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) high. Keep the centers level so the eggs won't lean. Whisk the remaining yolk with the water, then brush a thin coat over the ridges without crushing them. This is the gilding called for in the original method: beaten egg gives the potato its burnished surface under strong heat.

4. 4

   Color the galettes

   Bake the galettes for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheet once if needed, until the fluted ridges are deep butter-gold and the bases feel firm enough to lift. Transfer them carefully to a warmed oval platter and arrange them in a crown. Reduce the oven to 325°F (165°C). Keep the platter warm while you poach the eggs, but don't cover the galettes or their ridges will soften.

5. 5

   Line the baba-moulds

   Generously butter four baba-moulds, the small tapered cylindrical moulds that widen toward the rim. Coat the bottoms and sides completely, because an unbuttered patch is where the egg will catch. Lay one broad truffle slice flat in the bottom of each. Crack every egg into a separate cup first, then slide one gently into each mould without disturbing the truffle. Season the eggs with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and white pepper. Set the moulds on a folded kitchen towel inside a deep roasting pan; the towel keeps them steady in the water.

6. 6

   Poach in bain-marie

   Pour just-boiled water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the moulds. Transfer the bain-marie to the 325°F (165°C) oven and poach for 9 to 13 minutes, checking metal moulds at 9 minutes and ceramic ones at 11. The whites should look opaque and barely set while the centers still quiver over the liquid yolks. The water must remain calm; if it bubbles hard, pull the pan out, add a splash of cool water, and lower the oven slightly. Lift the moulds from the bath and rest them for only 30 seconds. Residual heat finishes the whites quickly.

7. 7

   Unmould and sauce

   Run a thin flexible knife around the upper edge of each egg without reaching the yolk. Invert one mould directly over each galette, tap it once, and lift vertically so the black truffle appears at the crown. If an egg sticks, dip the base of its mould back into the hot water for 5 seconds and loosen the edge again. If a little white tears, turn that side inward and cover it with gravy. Ça se rattrape. Whisk the warm gravy until glossy, then spoon it generously over each egg so it coats the dome and pools lightly on the potato without hiding every gilded ridge. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A whole preserved black truffle is the honest classical-pantry answer when fresh truffles aren't in season. Drain it, dry it, and cut four broad slices. Truffle oil cannot provide the dark crown or the quiet depth this dish requires.
• •Metal baba-moulds or dariole moulds give the cleanest shape and cook fastest. Four well-buttered wells in a jumbo metal muffin pan also work, provided the pan fits inside a larger roasting pan for the bain-marie.
• •Warm the platter and have every guest seated before the eggs enter the water. The gravy and galettes can wait briefly; the liquid yolks cannot. Timing, not ornament, makes this dish splendid.
• •Serve with a full-bodied dry white Burgundy or a restrained red Burgundy. Either has enough structure for veal gravy and truffle without bullying the eggs.
• •For pregnant guests, young children, older adults, or anyone with reduced immunity, use pasteurized shell eggs or continue poaching until both whites and yolks are fully set.

Advance Preparation

• •The veal gravy can be reduced and thickened up to 48 hours ahead. Chill it promptly, then reheat it gently, whisking in a little water if it has set too firmly.
• •The Duchesse potatoes can be piped into galettes up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerated, lightly covered without touching their ridges. Gild them only just before baking.
• •The baba-moulds can be buttered and lined with truffle up to 2 hours ahead. Keep them chilled, but crack in the eggs only when the galettes and gravy are ready. The poached eggs cannot be held or reheated without setting their yolks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)