Écrevisses à la Bordelaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •35 to 38 cm wide heavy sauté pan or rondeau with lid
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Kitchen shears
• •Long match or long-reach lighter
• •Slotted spoon or sturdy tongs
• •Deep warmed serving timbale

Instructions

1. 1

   Arrange the mise en place

   Measure the Mirepoix (No. 228), brandy, wine, Sauce Espagnole, fumet, tomato purée, Fine or Bordelaise Mirepoix (No. 229), meat glaze, and cayenne into separate small bowls. Cube the finishing butter and keep it cold. Chop the chervil and tarragon, set a broad lidded pan on the stove, and warm a timbale (deep serving bowl). Once the crayfish are deveined, there must be no hunt for a bottle or chopping of herbs.

2. 2

   Clean and devein

   Rinse the crayfish thoroughly under cold running water, brushing away any mud around the joints and underside. Discard any found dead before handling, then humanely stun and dispatch the rest according to local animal-welfare guidance. Hold the central tail segment between the point of a small knife and your thumb, twist it very slightly, and pull steadily to draw out the dark intestinal cord. Cook them at once. If a cord breaks, slit the thin underside of that tail with kitchen shears and lift the remainder out. Ça se rattrape. If the pan requires two batches, devein only the crayfish going into the first batch, cook them, then repeat.

   Ask the fishmonger to demonstrate the tail-cord removal when you buy the crayfish. The motion is gentle, not a tug, and the cord should emerge whole.
3. 3

   Redden the shells

   Melt the first butter in the broad pan over medium-high heat and add the cooked Mirepoix (No. 228). Add the crayfish and toss or turn them constantly until every shell changes from dark green-brown to a clear lacquered red, about 4 to 5 minutes. If the vessel is too crowded for the crayfish to move, divide the butter and Mirepoix (No. 228) between two quick batches and combine everything before adding the brandy. If liquid pools on the pan floor, keep the heat high until it cooks away; brandy added to a watery pan cannot do its work.

4. 4

   Flambé and reduce

   Take the pan off the burner and pour in the measured brandy, never directly from the bottle. Return it to the heat for a few seconds, move it clear of anything overhead, then ignite it with a long match and stand back until the flame dies naturally. If you do not wish to flambé indoors, boil the brandy briskly for 60 to 90 seconds, until its sharp alcoholic smell has softened. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered until the liquid has reduced by one-third, about 4 minutes. Judge by the falling line around the pan, not by the clock.

5. 5

   Complete the sauce

   Stir in the Sauce Espagnole, fumet, tomato purée, and Fine or Bordelaise Mirepoix (No. 229), distributing the aromatics through the pan. Bring the sauce only to a bare simmer, cover, and cook for exactly 10 minutes, turning the crayfish once so the sauce reaches every shell. A hard boil toughens the tail meat. If the sauce begins catching before the crayfish are cooked, lower the heat and add one tablespoon of fumet or water around the edge of the pan.

6. 6

   Reduce by one-quarter

   Lift the crayfish with a slotted spoon into the warmed timbale and cover them loosely. Bring the uncovered sauce to a lively simmer and reduce it by one-quarter, about 2 to 4 minutes, until it lightly coats a spoon but still runs freely enough to reach between the shells. If it goes too far or tastes overly concentrated, whisk in a spoonful of fumet or water. Ça se rattrape. If it remains thin, give it another minute rather than reaching for flour.

7. 7

   Mount with butter

   Take the pan completely off the heat. Stir in the meat glaze and cayenne, then monter au beurre by whisking in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, adding each only after the previous cubes disappear. The sauce should turn glossy and supple, never greasy. If it splits, stop adding butter, whisk one tablespoon of cold fumet in a clean bowl, then whisk the broken sauce into it one spoonful at a time. Fold in the chervil and tarragon only after the emulsion is smooth, pour the sauce over the crayfish, and serve immediately. À table!

   Never return the finished sauce to a boil. The final butter is an emulsion, and high heat drives the fat back out.

Chef Tips

• •Buy live food-grade crayfish from a fishmonger who can tell you when they arrived and how they were held. Pre-cooked frozen crayfish cannot replace them here, because the reddening shells and their juices are part of the sauce's foundation.
• •The recipe clock assumes that the Mirepoix (No. 228), Fine or Bordelaise Mirepoix (No. 229), Sauce Espagnole, fumet, and meat glaze are already finished. They belong to their own preparations. Making them inline would turn one evening into a small catering operation, and that is precisely the brigade scaffolding we are removing.
• •Choose a dry white Bordeaux built from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, or both. Avoid an oaky or sweet bottle; reduction magnifies whatever the wine brings, including faults.
• •Bring finger bowls, a shell bowl, good bread, and plenty of napkins. Serve the same dry white Bordeaux alongside. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, and crayfish are happier when guests use their hands.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and eat them by the following day. Reheat very gently without boiling, though the butter emulsion will never be quite as fine as it was at the first serving.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Mirepoix (No. 228), Fine or Bordelaise Mirepoix (No. 229), Sauce Espagnole, fumet, and meat glaze in advance according to their own entries. Chill them promptly and bring only the measured quantities to the stove.
• •Measure the wine, brandy, tomato purée, and sauce components earlier on the day of serving. Cube the finishing butter and keep it cold.
• •Do not remove the crayfish intestinal cords ahead. Clean, devein, and cook in one continuous sequence immediately before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)