Darne de Saumon Nesselrode

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8-inch (20 cm) springform pan at least 3 inches (7.5 cm) deep
• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Flexible boning knife and fish tweezers
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer or slender metal probe
• •Rimmed baking sheet and two sturdy cooling racks
• •Two broad metal spatulas

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the darne

   Keep the salmon skin ring whole while cutting closely around the central spine and rib bones with a flexible knife. Pull every pin bone with fish tweezers, then feel both cut faces with your fingertips because one forgotten bone defeats the whole refinement of the dish. Pat the darne dry, season it inside and out with ½ teaspoon of the salt and ⅛ teaspoon of the white pepper, cover, and refrigerate. Remove the raw lobster tail and claw meat, keeping it cold. Discard the head sacs and feathery gills, then crack the remaining shells into manageable pieces for the sauce.

   Ask the fishmonger to bone the darne without cutting through its skin collar and to dispatch the lobsters immediately before separating the raw meat. Bring home every lobster shell; it is the foundation of the sauce.
2. 2

   Make the cold mousse

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Pulse the pike with ¼ teaspoon salt until it becomes sticky, then add half the egg white and 2 tablespoons of the mousse cream. Process only until smooth and immediately scrape this farce de brochet, or pike forcemeat, into a cold bowl. Pulse the lobster meat with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon white pepper, add the remaining egg white, then pour in 5 tablespoons of the cold cream while pulsing briefly. Fold in the pike forcemeat until evenly combined. Poach a teaspoonful in barely trembling water for 2 minutes; it should set tenderly but hold together. If the mousse looks oily or slack, stop. Chill it for 15 minutes, then pulse in the reserved tablespoon of cold cream one teaspoon at a time until the emulsion returns. Ça se rattrape. Cover and refrigerate.

3. 3

   Build sauce américaine

   Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the cracked lobster shells and cook, stirring and pressing them, until they turn a strong coral red. Add the shallots and carrot and cook until softened, then add the garlic and tomato paste and cook until the paste darkens. Take the pan off the heat before adding the Cognac, return it to the stove, and reduce almost dry. Add the wine and reduce by half. Stir in the tomatoes, water, and bouquet garni, then hold the sauce at a lively simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the shells firmly, and reduce the liquid to about 1½ cups (360 ml). Set this uncreamed sauce base aside.

4. 4

   Make the raised paste

   Warm the lard and pastry water together only until the lard melts, then let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Beat in the whole egg and pour the liquid into the 3¾ cups flour. Mix firmly until no dry flour remains and the pâte à pâté chaude, or hot-water raised-pie paste, forms a smooth, somewhat stiff dough. Divide it into two-thirds for the lining and one-third for the lid. Wrap both pieces and rest them at room temperature for 20 minutes. If the pâte cracks when rolled, knead it briefly with a damp hand; do not add enough water to make it soft.

5. 5

   Line and fill

   Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with a rack in the lower third. Butter an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan generously with 2 tablespoons butter. Roll the larger piece of pâte about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick and line the base and sides, leaving an overhang at the rim. Press small scraps over any tears because the lining must be watertight. Arrange the bacon slices over the pastry with their edges overlapping. Set the darne in the mould with one cut face against the base, so its skin forms a vertical collar. Pack the cold mousse into the opening left by the spine and between the boned sections, pressing gently to remove air pockets without tearing the salmon.

6. 6

   Seal and bake

   Roll the remaining pâte into a thin lid. Fold the bacon ends over the salmon, set the lid on top, and pinch it firmly to the overhanging lining. Trim the edge, crimp it, and cut a ½-inch (1 cm) vent in the centre. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the oven to 350°F (180°C) and continue for 45 to 60 minutes. Begin checking through the same vent after 45 minutes at the lower temperature. The mousse at the centre must reach 145°F (63°C), and the probe should emerge without wet stuffing. If the crust is fully bronzed before the centre is ready, shield it loosely with foil and continue baking; the foil is rescue, not defeat.

7. 7

   Drain and unmould

   Keep the hot pie latched inside its mould. Set it on a rimmed baking sheet, place a sturdy cooling rack over the top, and grip the mould and rack together with dry oven gloves. Invert the whole assembly for 3 minutes so the vent faces downward and the melted bacon fat and fish juices can drain without allowing the pie to fall. Turn it upright, rest it for 10 minutes, then release the springform ring. Slide the pie from its base onto a warmed platter with two broad spatulas. Leave the crust whole until it reaches the dining table.

8. 8

   Finish sauce and oysters

   Return the sauce base to a gentle simmer. Reserve ¼ cup of the strained oyster liquor for poaching and stir any excess into the sauce. Knead the remaining tablespoon of butter with the tablespoon of flour to make a beurre manié, or kneaded butter. Whisk it into the sauce in small pieces and simmer for 3 minutes so the flour cooks completely. Add all but the reserved 2 tablespoons of cream and the cayenne, then simmer gently until the sauce naps the back of a spoon. Taste and season with the remaining salt and white pepper. Warm the reserved oyster liquor in a small pan until it barely trembles, add the oysters, and poach for 30 to 60 seconds, just until their edges curl. Transfer them to the sauce. If the cream separates, take the pan off the heat and whisk in the reserved cold cream. Do not boil it again.

9. 9

   Open at table

   Carry the pie intact to the table with the sauce alongside. Cut around the crimped lid with a serrated knife and lift it away, then divide the pastry, salmon, and mousse into four generous wedges. Spoon the sauce américaine around each portion and give every guest several oysters, keeping most of the crust above the sauce so it remains crisp. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The darne must be a thick centre cut with its skin collar unbroken. A thin supermarket salmon steak cannot hold the mousse or stand securely in the mould; order this cut from a fishmonger and explain that it will be boned but kept whole.
• •Pike is here for its binding power, not as a decorative luxury. If it is unavailable, very fresh zander is the closest honest substitute. Hake can bind the mousse, but its softer texture changes the filling slightly, and I would say so at the table.
• •Use a springform pan only if its latch closes firmly and the base sits flat. The pastry should line it without parchment, which would obstruct the final draining. Set the pan on a rimmed sheet throughout baking in case a little fat escapes.
• •Choose small, briny oysters. Large oysters dominate the lobster sauce and toughen before they warm through; these should curl at the edge while remaining plump in the centre.
• •Pour a firm, dry white Burgundy or a blanc de blancs Champagne. The wine needs enough acidity for the cream and enough body for salmon, lobster, bacon, and pastry. This is not the moment for a timid glass.

Advance Preparation

• •The lobster-shell sauce base can be cooked, strained, and reduced one day ahead. Chill it promptly and reheat gently, adding the cream and oysters only at service.
• •The darne can be boned and the lobster and pike mousse prepared up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them separately covered in the cold and assemble the pie only when the pastry is ready.
• •The pâte à pâté chaude can be made up to 2 hours before assembly and held tightly wrapped at cool room temperature. If refrigerated it becomes too firm to line the mould cleanly.
• •The finished pie is best opened soon after baking. Leftovers keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator, but reheat the pie and sauce separately and never boil oysters a second time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 710g)