Princess Moulded Eggs

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Mini food processor with metal blade
• •4 narrow, deep 5-ounce (150 ml) metal dariole-moulds or straight-sided pudding moulds
• •Wide sauté pan with a lid, deep enough for the bain-marie
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Narrow offset spatula or damp teaspoon
• •Small skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the farce

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Add the cold chicken, ½ teaspoon of the fine salt, and a pinch of white pepper, then process until the meat becomes a smooth, tacky paste. Add the egg white and process again until fully absorbed. With the machine running, pour in the cold cream gradually and stop as soon as the farce mousseline, a fine chicken forcemeat, looks smooth, pale, and softly cohesive. If it turns loose or greasy, stop and chill the bowl for 10 minutes before pulsing again. Ça se rattrape; warmth, not the formula, is the culprit. Cover and refrigerate.

   To check the seasoning safely, poach a teaspoon of the farce for 2 minutes and taste it. Never taste raw chicken forcemeat.
2. 2

   Build the velouté

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small saucepan over gentle heat. Stir in the flour and cook this roux blond, a pale butter-and-flour thickener, for 2 minutes without letting it colour. Whisk in the warm chicken stock a little at a time, smoothing each addition before the next, then simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes. The clear poultry velouté should lightly nap the back of a spoon while remaining fluid enough to fall in a narrow thread. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch of white pepper, then strain. If it has lumps, whisk firmly and pass it through the sieve; don't discard it. Hold it over the lowest heat, loosening with a spoonful of stock if it tightens.

3. 3

   Line the moulds

   Use 1 tablespoon of butter to coat four 5-ounce dariole-moulds generously. Lay one thin, very dark truffle round flat in the bottom of each. With a damp teaspoon or narrow offset spatula, spread a continuous layer of farce mousseline about ⅛ inch thick over the sides only, leaving the truffle visible at the base and reserving enough farce to seal the tops. Patch every gap now, because an unlined patch lets the egg filling escape against the metal. Chill the lined moulds for 10 minutes so the coating firms.

4. 4

   Prepare the garnish

   Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and season it with the blanching salt. Add the asparagus tips and cook for 60 to 90 seconds, just until bright green and barely tender. Cool them in cold water, drain, and blot them thoroughly; water clinging to the asparagus would thin the eggs. Leave slender tips whole. Cut the truffle left after making the four rounds into small, even dice.

5. 5

   Scramble very softly

   Reserve 1 teaspoon from 2 tablespoons of butter, then melt the rest in a small heavy saucepan. Beat 4 eggs with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and white pepper, pour them into the pan, and cook over low heat while stirring continuously across the bottom. Lift the pan from the heat whenever the eggs begin setting too quickly. Stop when tiny curds have formed but the mixture remains glossy and loose enough to pour. If the edges tighten, scrape everything into a cool bowl and stir in the reserved cold butter; ça se rattrape while the centre is still wet. Fold in the asparagus tips and diced truffle. Beat the fifth raw egg separately and fold it through, preserving the source's exact proportion of 1 raw egg to every 4 scrambled.

   Eggs that look ready to serve from the pan are already too firm for this dish. They still have the enclosed poach ahead of them.
6. 6

   Fill and seal

   Spoon the egg mixture into the chilled moulds, filling each only two-thirds full. Divide the asparagus and truffle evenly and tap each mould once against a folded cloth to settle the filling without compressing it. Spread the remaining farce mousseline in a thin layer across each top, joining it cleanly to the lining around the sides. If the farce drags the eggs, dip the spatula in cold water and smooth with a light hand. Keep the sealed top just below the rim.

7. 7

   Poach in bain-marie

   Line a wide lidded sauté pan with a folded kitchen towel or silicone mat and set the moulds upright on it. Pour barely simmering water around them to reach two-thirds of the way up their sides, cover the pan, and hold the bain-marie at the gentlest tremble for 12 minutes. Don't let the water boil hard; if it does, lower the heat and crack the lid until it calms. Vigorous water toughens the farce and the eggs together. The forcemeat cap should be opaque and spring lightly, with a safe internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). If needed, continue in 2-minute intervals. Ceramic ramekins heat more slowly and may require 15 to 18 minutes.

   The twelve-minute timing belongs to narrow metal dariole-moulds and a warm filling. Wider ceramic ramekins keep the method but change the timing.
8. 8

   Toast and unmould

   While the moulds poach, melt the final tablespoon of butter in a skillet and toast the bread rounds over medium heat until butter-gold on both sides. Set them in a circle on a warm platter. Rest the cooked moulds for 1 minute, loosen only the farce seal at the rim with a thin knife, and invert one onto each toast. If a mould refuses to release, dip its base in the hot bain-marie for 5 seconds and try again. Ring the eggs with a narrow thread of warm clear poultry velouté, leaving their smooth sides visible, and send the remainder in a sauceboat. Serve immediately. À table!

   Don't pour the velouté over the truffle crowns. The source calls for a thread around the moulds, enough sauce for each forkful without hiding the work.

Chef Tips

• •Choose 5-ounce metal dariole-moulds or narrow straight-sided pudding moulds. A 6-ounce ramekin works, but the result will be wider and will need several extra minutes in the bain-marie.
• •A small whole preserved black truffle is the honest classical-pantry answer when fresh truffle isn't available. Drain and dry it well. Truffle oil cannot supply the black crown, the dice, or the quiet bite this dish requires, so it isn't an equivalent.
• •The velouté is only as persuasive as its stock. If packaged chicken stock tastes thin, reduce 1¼ cups to 1 cup before measuring it into the recipe; concentration replaces the brigade stockpot honestly.
• •Use real butter for the moulds, roux, eggs, and toast. It performs four different jobs here, release, structure, tenderness, and browning. We don't apologize for butter.
• •Serve with a blanc de blancs Champagne or a restrained Chablis. Both have enough freshness for the eggs and cream without trampling the asparagus or truffle.
• •Œufs moulés Princesse don't improve by waiting. The velouté and farce can wait for you, but once the eggs are scrambled, fill, poach, unmould, and serve.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the clear poultry velouté up to 2 days ahead, cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat gently and loosen it with a spoonful of stock if it no longer pours in a fine thread.
• •Prepare the farce mousseline up to 6 hours ahead and keep it very cold with its surface covered directly. The moulds may be buttered, decorated with truffle, and lined with farce up to 2 hours ahead.
• •Blanch and dry the asparagus up to 4 hours ahead. Refrigerate it covered, then let it lose its chill while you prepare the water bath.
• •Don't scramble the eggs or fill the moulds ahead. Begin that stage as the bain-marie water approaches a simmer, then poach the filled moulds immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 225g)