Escalopes de Ris de Veau Judic

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •2-quart (1.9 L) saucepan for poaching the forcemeat
• •Shallow lidded sauté pan for the lettuces
• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two small trays and a 2-pound (900 g) weight
• •Warm oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch and press

   Put the sweetbreads in a deep bowl, cover generously with cold water, and refrigerate for 2 hours, replacing the water twice as it clouds. Follow Blanchings (No. 273) for the meat: place the drained sweetbreads in a saucepan of fresh cold water, bring the temperature up gradually, and skim as the water approaches the boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and simmer gently for 8 minutes, never exceeding 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer them immediately to abundant fresh cold water. When cool, remove the outer membrane, thick tubes, fat, and any bloody patches without tearing the lobes apart. Set the sweetbreads between two parchment-lined trays, place a 2-pound weight on top, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Pat them completely dry.

   Changing a refrigerated bowl of water is the sensible home equivalent of the continuously running water assumed by a professional scullery.
2. 2

   Poach the forcemeat

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade. For the farce mousseline, the cream-enriched chicken forcemeat, pulse the cold chicken with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and a pinch of white pepper until smooth and tacky. Add the egg white, then pour in the cold cream gradually while pulsing just until incorporated. The mixture must remain cold. If it turns loose or greasy, stop immediately and set the bowl in very cold water for 10 minutes, then pulse briefly once chilled. Ça se rattrape. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water and taste for seasoning. Spread a sheet of parchment with 1 teaspoon butter, shape the farce into a tight cylinder about 2 1/4 inches wide, roll it in the parchment, and enclose it firmly in foil. Poach at 170 to 180°F (77 to 82°C) until its center reaches 165°F (74°C), about 30 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes, then chill for 20 minutes so it cuts cleanly.

   The water should barely move around the roll. A hard boil forces out the cream and gives the forcemeat a coarse, rubbery texture.
3. 3

   Braise the lettuces

   Use the vegetable procedure from Blanchings (No. 273): bring a wide pan of water to a boil, salt it with 2 teaspoons of the measured salt, and lower in the lettuce halves. Scald them for 45 seconds, then cool in fresh cold water and drain thoroughly. Press each half gently between towels, fold loose leaves underneath, and trim it into a compact oval without cutting through the root. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow saucepan, arrange the lettuces snugly in one layer, and add 3/4 cup of the chicken stock. Cover and braise over low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, until tender but still holding their shape. Lift them out, drain well, and keep them covered. Reserve the braising liquor.

4. 4

   Make the jus lié

   Make the jus lié, the thickened gravy served apart, while the sweetbreads are pressing. Bring the brown veal stock to a steady simmer and reduce it to about 1 1/2 cups, skimming the surface when needed. Knead 1 tablespoon softened butter with the 1 tablespoon flour to make a beurre manié, soft butter worked with flour. Whisk it into the reduction in pea-sized pieces, then simmer for 5 minutes, until the gravy glosses the back of a spoon without becoming pasty. If it lumps, strain it into a clean pan. If it tightens too far, loosen it with the reserved chicken stock, one spoonful at a time. Taste before adding salt, then hold the jus lié over barely warm water.

5. 5

   Ready the garnish

   Unwrap the forcemeat roll and cut eight roundels about 1/2 inch thick. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a wide skillet over medium-low heat and warm the roundels for about 1 minute per side without browning them; transfer them to a covered warm platter. Warm the lettuce packets in a few spoonfuls of their braising liquor, then drain. Add another tablespoon butter to the skillet and cook the cock's kidneys until lightly bronzed and firm throughout, about 2 minutes, or cook the halved chicken hearts for 4 to 5 minutes. In either case, the poultry offal must reach 165°F (74°C). Season lightly and keep warm. Leave the truffle slices at room temperature so the hot garnish releases their perfume.

6. 6

   Brown the sweetbreads

   Cut the pressed sweetbreads across the lobes into eight neat escalopes about 1/2 inch thick and close in diameter to the forcemeat roundels. Save any sound trimmings for another dish. Season the escalopes with salt and white pepper, dredge them lightly in the flour, and shake off every loose speck. Heat 4 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium-high heat until its foam subsides and it smells nutty. Add the sweetbreads without crowding and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deep golden and at least 160°F (71°C) at the center. If the butter turns black before the sweetbreads bronze, lift them out, wipe the skillet, add fresh butter, and continue. Burnt butter needn't become burnt supper.

7. 7

   Build the crown

   Arrange the eight warm forcemeat roundels in an open crown on a heated oval platter. Set one sweetbread escalope on each roundel, then top each with a braised lettuce packet, a slice of truffle, and one cock's kidney or chicken-heart half. Work promptly, but don't compress the layers. Pour the hot jus lié into a warmed sauceboat and send it separately; keeping the gravy apart is part of Judic, not ceremony for its own sake. Each guest spoons it around the base at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask a butcher for veal heart sweetbreads and order them ahead. They are plumper and easier to cut into even escalopes than throat sweetbreads. Frozen sweetbreads are entirely sound when thawed slowly in the refrigerator.
• •Cock's kidneys usually require a direct request to a poultry farmer or specialty butcher. Halved chicken hearts are firmer and larger, but they preserve the intended poultry-offal accent without pretending the substitution is invisible.
• •Use a small fresh black truffle in season or a whole preserved truffle from a reputable jar. Slice it thinly and warm it through contact with the hot lettuce and kidney. Truffle-flavored oil cannot do this work.
• •The veal stock must contain enough natural gelatin to become glossy as it reduces. If refrigerated stock doesn't set softly, enrich it with an unsalted concentrated veal glaze rather than adding more flour. Pour a dry, full-bodied Chardonnay with firm acidity.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetbreads can be soaked, blanched, trimmed, and pressed one day ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated, then dry and slice them shortly before cooking.
• •The forcemeat roll can be poached one day ahead and refrigerated whole. Slice and warm it gently at service so its edges remain pale and tender.
• •The lettuces may be blanched and braised earlier the same day. Chill them in their braising liquor, then reheat gently and drain before assembly.
• •Reduce the veal stock one day ahead, but add the beurre manié while reheating. Brown the sweetbreads only at the last moment; their buttered crust does not improve by waiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 490g)