Poularde à l’Aurore

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Snug 6-quart (5.7 L) heavy pot with lid
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Food processor
• •Two deep tablespoons
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Large oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the pale poach

   Place the trussed poularde breast-side up in a snug 6-quart pot. Add the stock, 3 cups of the cold water, onion, carrot, leek, celery, bouquet garni, and peppercorns. The liquid should cover the bird by about 1 inch; add only as much reserved water as needed. Taste the liquid and add enough of the measured salt to make a lightly seasoned broth. Begin with everything cold so the thick legs and delicate breast warm together.

2. 2

   Hold the gentle heat

   Set the pot over medium heat and take 25 to 30 minutes to bring the liquid to 175 to 180°F (79 to 82°C), skimming away any pale froth as it rises. Reduce the heat until there is movement beneath the surface and only an occasional lazy bubble. Hold it there for 35 to 45 minutes, turning the bird once only if part of it sits above the liquid, until both the thickest breast and innermost thigh register at least 165°F (74°C). The thigh will commonly reach 170°F (77°C). If the liquid begins to boil, lift the pot off the burner at once and add a little reserved cold water; return it only when the bubbling has subsided. The sauce can conceal slight roughening, but catching the heat immediately is what preserves tenderness.

   Watch the liquid, not the clock. A proper poach looks almost uneventful, which is why cooks become impatient and spoil it.
3. 3

   Make the mousseline

   While the poularde cooks, chill the food processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Process the cold chicken breast with the quenelle salt and white pepper until it becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process just until absorbed. With the machine running, pour in all but 2 tablespoons of the cold cream in a thin stream, stopping as soon as the farce mousseline, the fine chicken forcemeat, is thick, smooth, and glossy. It must remain cold. If greasy streaks appear, stop immediately, chill the bowl over ice for 10 minutes, then pulse in the reserved cream. Cover the surface and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

   Cold chicken, cold cream, cold blade. Warmth breaks the emulsion, while excess processing warms it faster than most cooks expect.
4. 4

   Rest and strain

   Lift the cooked poularde carefully, tipping it over the pot to drain the cavity. Set it breast-side up on a rimmed plate and cover it loosely with parchment moistened in the hot poaching liquid. Rest for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, discard the vegetables and bouquet garni, and return about 4 cups to a wide saucepan for the garniture. Save the remaining broth for soup or another sauce.

5. 5

   Shape and poach garniture

   Bring the strained liquid to 175°F (79°C). Poach a teaspoon of the mousseline as a test; it should set tenderly and hold a clean shape. If it frays or spreads, chill the mixture for another 15 minutes and test again. Ça se rattrape. Cut 8 tiny diamonds from the reserved tongue trimmings. Using two spoons dipped in warm poaching liquid, shape the mousseline into 8 medium ovals and press one tongue diamond into the top of each. Lower them into the liquid and poach without boiling for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, until their centres reach 165°F (74°C). Lift them onto a clean towel. Dip the trimmed tongue ovals into the liquid for about 20 seconds to warm them, then drain; prolonged simmering makes cured tongue tough.

6. 6

   Warm the Aurore Sauce

   Warm the Aurore Sauce (No. 60) in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring gently until it flows in a broad ribbon and coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil a butter-finished sauce. If it has tightened in the cold, whisk in hot poaching liquid 1 tablespoon at a time. If it looks oily, remove it from the heat and whisk in 1 tablespoon of cool poaching liquid until the gloss returns.

7. 7

   Dress the platter

   Warm a large oval platter with hot water and dry it thoroughly. Remove the trussing string and blot the poularde gently, because sauce slides from wet skin. Set the bird breast-side up and spoon about three-quarters of the sauce over it from crown to base, letting a generous pool gather beneath. Arrange the decorated quenelles and trimmed tongue ovals alternately around the bird, according to fancy but without fuss. Bring the remaining sauce in a warmed sauceboat and carve the poularde at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A poularde is a well-fleshed young hen prized for tender, delicate meat. If your butcher cannot supply one, choose a small roasting chicken between 3½ and 4 pounds. A large roaster takes too long to cook through and leaves the breast waiting in the pot.
• •The recipe clock assumes the finished Aurore Sauce (No. 60) is ready. That separation is faithful to the source: the sauce is its own preparation, not something hurried together while the bird overcooks.
• •Buy the salted tongue fully cooked and ask for slices about ⅛ inch thick. Cooking an entire tongue for eight garnish slices was sensible with a brigade and a charcuterie station; at home it is scaffolding you do not need.
• •Heavy cream is essential to the quenelles. Thinner dairy loosens the mousseline without supplying enough fat to keep it tender and emulsified.
• •Serve a dry white Burgundy or another restrained Chardonnay with good acidity. The wine needs enough body for the poultry and velouté, but not so much oak that it bullies the tomato and salted tongue.

Advance Preparation

• •The Aurore Sauce (No. 60) can be prepared one day ahead, cooled promptly, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat it over the gentlest heat and loosen it with a spoonful of poaching liquid if needed.
• •The quenelles can be shaped and poached earlier the same day. Chill them covered with a little strained poaching liquid, then rewarm them below a simmer shortly before arranging the platter.
• •Trim the tongue and cut its decorative diamonds one day ahead. Keep them well wrapped so the cut surfaces do not dry.
• •Poach the poularde close to serving. If dinner slips, keep it covered for no more than 30 minutes and warm it by ladling hot poaching liquid over it, never by returning it to a boil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 470g)