Suprêmes de Volaille Henri IV

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •Two small heavy saucepans
• •Medium heatproof bowl
• •Balloon whisk
• •Meat mallet or small rolling pin
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Clarify the butter

   Melt the 1⅓ cups butter slowly without letting it color. Skim away the white foam, then pour the clear golden fat into a measuring jug, leaving the milky sediment behind. Reserve ¾ cup (180 ml / about 165 g) for the Béarnaise and ¼ cup (60 ml / about 55 g) for sautéing the chicken. Keep the Béarnaise portion liquid and barely warm. Clarified butter matters here because its milk solids have been removed, so the collops can take clean color without burnt specks.

   Pour slowly when separating the butter. If a little milk sediment escapes into the jug, let it settle and decant the clear fat once more.
2. 2

   Reduce the foundations

   If the stock is thin and does not set softly when chilled, sprinkle the gelatin over it and leave it for 5 minutes. Simmer the stock uncovered in a small saucepan until reduced to ¼ cup (60 ml), glossy and lightly tacky, about 25 minutes. Lower the heat as it concentrates so the final spoonfuls do not scorch. In a second saucepan, combine the wine, vinegar, shallot, peppercorns, and reserved tarragon stems. Simmer until 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of liquid remain, then strain, pressing gently on the aromatics. If either reduction goes too far, loosen it with a spoonful of water. The concentration can be corrected before anything burns.

3. 3

   Shape the suprêmes

   Lay each suprême flat and slice it horizontally through its thickness to make 2 broad collops, giving you 8 altogether. Place them between sheets of parchment and tap them gently to an even ¼-inch (6 mm) thickness. Trim each into a neat round about 3 to 3½ inches (8 to 9 cm) across, preserving as much meat as possible, and save the trimmings for another meal. Even thickness is not plating theater; it lets every collop finish at the same moment. Pat them dry and keep them cold. Do not season or flour them yet.

4. 4

   Whisk the Béarnaise

   Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan containing an inch of water held at the barest tremble, making certain the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk the yolks with the strained wine-vinegar reduction and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the measured water until pale, thick, and able to hold the trace of the whisk. Take the bowl off the saucepan. Add the reserved ¾ cup clarified butter first by droplets, then in a thin stream, whisking constantly until the Béarnaise is glossy and softly mounded. Fold in the chopped tarragon and chervil, then season with salt and white pepper. If the sauce turns oily or separates, stop. Ça se rattrape: whisk 1 teaspoon cold water in a clean bowl, then add the broken sauce to it a teaspoon at a time until the emulsion reforms. Hold the finished Béarnaise over water at 110 to 120°F (43 to 49°C) for no more than 20 minutes. Barely warm means barely warm.

   If the Béarnaise becomes thick but remains smooth, it has not broken. Whisk in a teaspoon of warm water and it will relax.
5. 5

   Warm the garnish

   Arrange the artichoke bottoms cup-side up in a wide covered pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water and 1 tablespoon (14 g) of the cold butter. Warm them over low heat for about 5 minutes, turning once and keeping them pale. Transfer them to warmed plates or a platter. Reheat the reduced meat stock just until fluid, remove it from the heat, and whisk in the remaining tablespoon of cold butter to make the buttered meat glaze. It should gleam and coat a spoon lightly. If it looks greasy, whisk in a teaspoon of hot water.

6. 6

   Sauté the collops

   Season the collops with salt and white pepper. Dredge each lightly in flour immediately before cooking, then tap away every loose trace. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add half the reserved clarified butter. When the fat glistens, lay in 4 collops without crowding. Sauté for 1½ to 2 minutes on the first side and about 1 minute on the second, until evenly golden and the centers reach 165°F (74°C). Transfer them directly to a warm plate and repeat with fresh clarified butter. If flour specks blacken between batches, pour off that fat and wipe the skillet carefully with paper held in tongs before continuing. Burnt flour must not follow the second batch.

   Flour the chicken at the last moment. Flour left on damp meat becomes paste, while a fresh, dry dredging gives the clarified butter a clean surface to color.
7. 7

   Assemble and serve

   Spoon a small gloss of buttered meat glaze into each warm artichoke bottom, then set one collop squarely on top. Give each person 2. Pour the Béarnaise into a warmed sauceboat and serve it separately, exactly as the dish requires; flooding the chicken would soften its delicate flour coat and bury the artichoke. Bring everything to the table at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy plain artichoke bottoms, frozen or canned in water, never marinated quarters. Preserved bottoms are softer than freshly turned artichokes, but they keep the proper shape and make this possible outside the brief fresh season. Rinse canned ones well so their brine does not sharpen the Béarnaise.
• •Use unsalted stock for the meat glaze. A salted carton reduced to one-eighth of its volume becomes punishing before it becomes glossy; the little measure of gelatin restores the body that a home stock may lack without changing its flavor.
• •The Béarnaise must wait for the chicken, never the reverse. Keep it over water that feels gently warm, not hot, and make the collops only when the sauce is finished and the artichoke bottoms are ready.
• •Use pasteurized egg yolks, particularly when serving pregnant guests, young children, older adults, or anyone with reduced immunity. The sauce stays delicate because it is never boiled.
• •Save every chicken trimming. Brown the pieces for a small salad, fold them into a vol-au-vent filling, or freeze them for the next stockpot. Precision need not mean waste.
• •Pour a white Burgundy with clean acidity rather than a heavily oaked bottle. Béarnaise needs freshness, and artichoke has no patience for sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •The meat-stock reduction and the wine-vinegar reduction for the Béarnaise can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and chilled separately. Reheat the meat reduction gently and bring the Béarnaise reduction to room temperature before using.
• •The suprêmes can be sliced, flattened, and trimmed up to 4 hours ahead. Keep the collops between parchment in the cold, then dry them again before seasoning and dredging.
• •The artichoke bottoms can be drained, rinsed, and dried a day ahead. Keep them covered in the cold and warm them only when the Béarnaise is ready.
• •Do not prepare the finished Béarnaise far in advance. Its sensible holding time is about 20 minutes over barely warm water, and direct reheating will split it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 365g)