Poularde à la Godard

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 to 7-quart heavy oval cocotte with lid
• •Food processor with chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Wide shallow poaching pan
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Two teaspoons and two tablespoons for shaping
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large warmed oval platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the sweetbreads

   Soak the sweetbreads in plenty of cold water for 1 hour, changing the water twice, until they look pale and clean. Bring 2 quarts (1.9 L) fresh water and the lemon juice just to a simmer, add the sweetbreads, and blanch them gently for 5 minutes. Transfer them to cold water, pull away the outer membrane and any tough cords, then press between two trays under a couple of tins in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This firms them enough to cut and glaze neatly; calf sweetbread should be divided into eight small pieces after pressing.

   Keep the blanch gentle. A hard boil tightens the outside before the centre has warmed and makes the sweetbreads difficult to clean.
2. 2

   Turn the garnish

   Set aside 12 even mushroom caps. With a small paring knife, cut shallow curved grooves from the centre toward the rim, turning each cap as you work; the cuts should mark the surface without carving away the mushroom. Finely chop the stems and remaining mushrooms, then cook them in 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat until their water has evaporated. Cool completely. Cut one truffle into thin strips. Split the other two lengthwise and trim each half into a small olive shape, saving every trimming; finely chop the trimmings and combine half with the cooled mushrooms. Cut the tongue into small lozenges for decorating the large quenelles.

3. 3

   Build the forcemeat

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade, then process the chicken breast with ¾ teaspoon of the salt, the white pepper, and nutmeg until smooth and tacky. Reserve 1 teaspoon of egg white, add the remainder to the chicken, and process again. Add all but 2 tablespoons of the cold cream in three additions, stopping as soon as the forcemeat is smooth; warm forcemeat turns grainy, so set the bowl over ice if the machine heats it. Push the mixture through a fine sieve, then divide it equally. Fold the cooled chopped mushroom and truffle mixture into one half and keep both halves cold.

4. 4

   Poach both quenelles

   Heat a wide pan of salted water to 180°F (82°C), a bare tremble with no bubbling boil. Poach a teaspoon of the plain forcemeat as a test. If it feels firm or rubbery, fold a little reserved cream into both mixtures; if it feathers apart, chill the mixtures for 20 minutes and reprocess briefly with the reserved teaspoon of egg white. Ça se rattrape. With two wet teaspoons, shape the mushroom mixture into eight small quenelles. With two wet tablespoons, shape the plain mixture into four large ovals, then press tongue lozenges and truffle strips into their tops. Poach the small quenelles for 8 to 10 minutes and the large ones for 10 to 12 minutes, keeping the water below a simmer, until their centres reach 165°F (74°C). Lift them out, cover, and reserve.

5. 5

   Brown the poularde

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Pat the poularde completely dry and season it inside and out with 1½ teaspoons of the salt and half the black pepper. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy oval cocotte over medium heat. When the foam subsides, brown the bird deeply on the breast, back, and both sides, turning carefully and allowing 12 to 15 minutes in all. Do not hurry this. The brown film on the pot floor is the foundation of the sauce; if it turns black, lift out the bird, wipe away the burnt fat, add a fresh spoonful of butter, and continue.

6. 6

   Braise it gently

   Remove the poularde and add the onion, carrot, and celery to the cocotte. Cook until well browned, about 8 minutes. Pour in ½ cup (120 ml) Madeira and scrape up every caramelized speck, then reduce the wine by half. Add 3 cups (720 ml) brown chicken stock and the bouquet garni, return the bird breast-side up, and bring the liquid to a bare simmer. Cover and braise in the oven for 65 to 80 minutes, basting twice, until the breast reaches 165°F (74°C) and the thigh reaches about 175°F (79°C). Rest the bird, loosely covered, for 20 minutes. Strain and defat the braising liquor, then boil it down to 1¼ cups (300 ml). Reserve ¼ cup (60 ml) for glazing the sweetbreads.

7. 7

   Cook the garnish

   Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a broad skillet and place the grooved mushroom caps cut-side up. Add ½ cup (120 ml) brown chicken stock, cover, and cook gently for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender but still shapely. Lift out the caps and reserve the cooking liquor. If using the prepared cockscombs and cockerel kidneys, warm them gently in this liquor for 3 minutes, never boiling them, then lift them out with the mushrooms.

8. 8

   Build Sauce Godard

   Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, stir in 2 tablespoons of the flour, and cook the roux until it reaches the colour of a hazelnut and smells toasted. Whisk in the reserved mushroom liquor a little at a time, followed by the remaining 1½ cups (360 ml) stock, the remaining ½ cup (120 ml) Madeira, and the reserved truffle juice. Simmer for about 20 minutes, skimming when needed, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Whisk in 1 cup (240 ml) reduced braising liquor and simmer for 5 minutes more, then strain. Off the heat, whisk in 2 tablespoons cold butter. If the sauce looks greasy, add a teaspoon of cold stock and whisk firmly; if it is too thick, loosen it with stock, and if it is thin, reduce it before adding the butter. This is Sauce Godard at home scale, built from brown stock, mushroom and truffle essences, Madeira, and the bird's own braising liquor.

9. 9

   Glaze the sweetbreads

   Season the pressed sweetbread pieces with the remaining salt and pepper, then dust them lightly with the remaining tablespoon of flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the cleaned skillet and brown the sweetbreads on both sides over medium heat. Add the reserved ¼ cup (60 ml) braising reduction and baste until it clings in a glossy glaze and the centres reach 160°F (71°C), about 6 to 8 minutes. If the glaze separates, add a spoonful of stock and swirl the pan off the heat. For the salamander's final shine, pass the skillet under a closely watched broiler for no more than 30 seconds.

10. 10

    Arrange and sauce

    Set the rested poularde on a warmed oval platter. Warm both kinds of quenelle, the mushroom caps, optional cockscombs and kidneys, and the olive-shaped truffles in a shallow layer of Sauce Godard over very gentle heat. Arrange them generously around the bird, alternating shapes and textures, with the glazed sweetbreads set where everyone can reach one. Spoon just enough sauce over the garnish to coat it lightly, never burying the careful work. Send the remaining Sauce Godard in a warmed sauceboat and carve the poularde at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A true poularde is a specially fattened young hen with unusually tender, well-marbled flesh. When it cannot be found, choose a plump young chicken of the same weight. Technique first, always: dry it thoroughly and brown every side with patience.
• •Rich brown chicken stock is the saucier's stockpot translated honestly. If yours comes from cartons, reduce unsalted stock before measuring the 5 cups needed here; thin stock leaves the Madeira and truffle standing without a foundation.
• •Preserved whole black truffles are the classical pantry's sound answer outside truffle season. Keep every drop of their juice and every trimming. The shaped centres decorate the platter, while the scraps perfume the quenelles.
• •Prepared cockscombs and cockerel kidneys are specialty poultry items, not an ordinary butcher-counter errand. Use them when a trusted supplier has done the cleaning and preliminary cooking; otherwise omit them without substitution. Chicken hearts are muscular and firm, so they do not perform the same work.
• •The source garnish calls for lamb sweetbreads. Calf sweetbread is larger and easier to buy, and cutting it into eight small lobes preserves the intended scale and glazing surface.
• •Pour a mature red Burgundy or a broad white Burgundy. Both have enough depth for the truffle, sweetbreads, and Madeira without turning the poularde into a wrestling match.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetbreads may be soaked, blanched, cleaned, and pressed one day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator and glaze them only at the finish.
• •Both kinds of quenelle may be shaped and poached one day ahead. Chill them in a little strained poaching liquid, then warm them very gently in Sauce Godard before arranging the platter.
• •The mushrooms and truffles may be cut several hours ahead. Cover the truffles tightly with their reserved juice, and refrigerate the mushrooms separately so they do not absorb the truffle perfume prematurely.
• •The brown-stock base of Sauce Godard may be prepared through its first reduction earlier in the day. Add the reduced poultry braising liquor and mount with cold butter shortly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 725g)