Lapwings’ Eggs à la Royale

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade, preferably a compact bowl
• •Eight 2-ounce (60 ml) tartlet, dariole, or silicone moulds
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small melon baller or ½-teaspoon measuring spoon
• •Blender and fine-mesh sieve

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the equipment

   Put the diced chicken, processor bowl, blade, egg white, and cream in the freezer for 15 minutes, just until thoroughly cold but not frozen. Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Brush eight 2-ounce (60 ml) tartlet or dariole moulds generously with 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter, reaching every corner so the poached forcemeat will release cleanly.

   Cold is part of the method, not housekeeping. A warm chicken mixture releases its fat and makes a grainy, springy forcemeat.
2. 2

   Make the farce mousseline

   Pulse the cold chicken with 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) of the salt and half the white pepper until it becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) from ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of the cream, then drizzle the rest through the feed tube while pulsing. Add the reserved spoonful once the mixture is smooth and glossy. If it turns greasy or grainy, stop immediately, nest the processor bowl over ice, and pulse in that reserved cold cream a teaspoon at a time. Ça se rattrape. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water for 2 minutes and taste it before filling the moulds.

3. 3

   Poach the tartlets

   Divide the farce mousseline among the prepared moulds, about ¼ cup (60 ml / 50 g) in each, tapping them lightly against the counter to dislodge air pockets. Set the moulds in a roasting pan lined with a folded kitchen towel. Pour in hot water to reach halfway up their sides, cover the pan tightly with foil, and poach in the oven for 16 to 20 minutes. They are ready when the tops spring back gently, show no browning, and the centers reach 165°F (74°C). Let them stand for 3 minutes, then turn them out. If one clings, wait another minute and loosen its rim with a thin knife rather than pulling. Scoop a neat hollow from each center with a small melon baller, deep enough to hold an egg upright without cutting through the base.

4. 4

   Build the mushroom purée

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms, the remaining ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g) salt, and the remaining white pepper. Cover and let the mushrooms release their liquid for 5 minutes, then uncover and cook until that liquid has nearly disappeared without allowing the mushrooms to brown. Add ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) of the chicken stock and reduce by half. Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) from the remaining ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cream, add the rest, and simmer gently for 4 minutes. Blend until completely smooth and pass through a fine sieve. The purée should nap the spoon lightly. If it is too thick, loosen it with the reserved stock; if too thin, reduce it gently. If beads of butter appear, take it off the heat and blend in the reserved cold cream. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Boil and peel

   Bring a small saucepan of water to a steady boil. Lower in the quail eggs and cook for 2 minutes 45 seconds for set whites and soft yolks, or 4 minutes for fully set eggs, as the source permits. Transfer them immediately to ice water for 3 minutes. Crack the shells all over and peel under cold water, beginning at the wide end where the air pocket lies. Choose the best eight and shave the thinnest possible slice from the wide end of each white so it can stand. If one tears, use a spare; forcing a damaged soft egg into the tartlet only finishes the break.

6. 6

   Cloak and arrange

   Cover the hollowed forcemeat tartlets loosely with foil and warm them in the 300°F (150°C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes. Warm the mushroom purée over low heat without boiling. Set one egg upright in each tartlet, deepening the hollow carefully if needed rather than pressing the egg down. Spoon the purée over each egg so it forms a pale, light cloak and barely reaches the forcemeat base. Sprinkle every egg with chopped truffle, then arrange the eight tartlets in a circle on a warmed round platter. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Do not collect, buy privately, or accept wild lapwing eggs. Quail eggs preserve the scale and generous yolk of the original presentation while leaving protected nests alone; the substitution is visible, responsible, and honest.
• •The processor must suit this small quantity. A wide machine that leaves the chicken below its blade cannot form a proper emulsion; use a compact bowl or make the farce mousseline in two small batches.
• •Keep the mushrooms pale. Their juices should concentrate without browning, because the finished purée is meant to be ivory-beige and delicate beside the white eggs, not dark like a mushroom ragout.
• •Fresh black truffle is wonderful when available, but a whole preserved truffle is better than a tired fresh one. Chop it with a knife and use the pieces proudly; truffle oil cannot provide the texture or flavor this finish requires.
• •Serve two tartlets per person as a formal first course with a dry Champagne or a restrained white Burgundy. The dish is rich, so the wine should bring freshness rather than sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •The mushroom purée can be made up to 24 hours ahead, cooled quickly, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat it over low heat, then correct the consistency with a spoonful of reserved stock or cream.
• •The forcemeat tartlets can be poached and hollowed earlier the same day. Keep them covered and refrigerated, then warm them gently under foil shortly before assembly.
• •Boil and peel the quail eggs close to serving. Soft yolks continue to firm in storage, and these little shells are easiest to remove while the eggs are freshly chilled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 205g)