Suprêmes de Volaille Régence

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and cheesecloth
• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •10 to 12-inch wide sauté pan with lid
• •Parchment paper for cartouches
• •Two large tablespoons for shaping quenelles
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Make crayfish butter

   Crush the clean, dry crayfish shells into small pieces. Melt the 6 tablespoons of butter over low heat, add the shells, and cook very gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the butter has taken on a coral-red tint and smells distinctly of crayfish. Do not let the milk solids or shells brown. Strain through a fine sieve lined with damp cheesecloth, pressing firmly, then chill until the butter is soft but no longer liquid. Measure 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) for the forcemeat.

2. 2

   Shape the suprêmes

   Remove the tenderloin from each breast and reserve it with every trimming. Set each breast smooth-side up between sheets of parchment and flatten it gently to an even ⅝ inch (1.5 cm), preserving its thickness rather than beating it into a cutlet. Cut a shallow notch in the broad end, round the two shoulders, and trim the tapered end to form a clean heart. Season the four suprêmes with ¾ teaspoon of the salt and a little white pepper, cover, and return them to the cold. Combine the tenderloins and trimmings with enough of the extra breast meat to make 8 ounces (225 g) for the forcemeat.

3. 3

   Build cold forcemeat

   Put the chilled 8 ounces (225 g) of chicken into the cold processor bowl with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon white pepper. Process just until it becomes smooth and tacky, then add the egg white and the measured crayfish butter. With the machine pulsing, add the ½ cup of cold cream in a thin stream and stop as soon as the farce mousseline, the cream-enriched chicken forcemeat, looks satin-smooth. Poach a teaspoonful in barely trembling water and taste it. If the mixture looks oily or grainy, stop immediately, set the bowl over ice, and beat in 1 tablespoon of the reserved cold sauce cream. Ça se rattrape. Cover and chill for 20 minutes.

   Cold is the structure here. If the processor bowl feels warm beneath your hand, stop and chill the mixture before adding more cream.
4. 4

   Build the velouté

   Melt 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) of the sauce butter in a heavy saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook this roux blond, a pale cooked mixture of butter and flour, for 3 minutes without allowing it to color. Whisk in 2½ cups (600 ml / 600 g) of the chicken stock gradually, keeping the mixture smooth. Bring it to a bare simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring and skimming occasionally, until the velouté lightly coats a spoon. If lumps form, pass it through a fine sieve and continue; the sauce has lost nothing.

5. 5

   Poach the quenelles

   Bring the remaining 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) of stock to 180 to 185°F (82 to 85°C) in a wide sauté pan. It should tremble at the edge but never boil. Using two large spoons dipped in warm water, shape the cold forcemeat into four long, even quenelles, each large enough to support one suprême. Lower them into the stock, cover with a parchment cartouche, and poach gently for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, until their centers reach 165°F (74°C). Lift them out with a slotted spatula, cover, and keep warm. Strain and reserve the poaching liquor.

6. 6

   Poach the suprêmes

   Wipe the sauté pan clean and butter it with the softened tablespoon of butter. Arrange the heart-shaped suprêmes in one layer and add enough strained poaching liquor to come halfway up their sides. Cover with a fresh parchment cartouche and hold the liquid at the same bare tremble. Poach for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness, until the chicken remains plump and its center reaches 165°F (74°C). Boiling tightens the meat and distorts the hearts, so lower the heat at the first hard bubble. Transfer the suprêmes to a warm plate, cover loosely, and strain the liquor again.

7. 7

   Finish the Allemande

   Whisk the egg yolks with ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of the cold sauce cream. Add ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of strained poaching liquor to the velouté and simmer until it again coats the spoon lightly. Whisk a ladleful into the yolk mixture, then return everything to the saucepan over very low heat. Stir continuously until the Allemande sauce thickens to nappe, coating the back of a spoon, and reaches at least 160°F (71°C). Never let it boil. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sauce butter, the lemon juice, the truffle essence, and the finely chopped truffle trimmings. If tiny grains appear, pour the sauce at once through a fine sieve into a cool bowl and whisk in reserved cold cream one spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape.

   The finished Allemande should flow in a broad ivory ribbon. If it tightens while you arrange the crown, loosen it with a spoonful of warm poaching liquor.
8. 8

   Crown and serve

   Cut four olive-shaped pieces from the preserved truffle. Warm them briefly in a little hot poaching liquor with the prepared cockscombs and cock’s kidneys, if using, without boiling. Arrange the four quenelles as a crown on a warmed oval platter, their narrow ends pointing toward the center, and set one heart-shaped suprême on each. Coat every portion generously with the truffle-scented Allemande sauce. On each suprême, place one olive-shaped truffle and one cock’s kidney with a cock’s comb between them, exactly in the order of the original garnish. Pass the remaining sauce separately and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Crayfish butter must taste of the shell, not toasted butter. Keep the heat low and strain while it is still liquid; the unused crayfish tails belong in tomorrow’s omelette or salad, not in this garnish.
• •Use real truffle essence or the dark juice packed with preserved black truffles. Truffle oil is not an honest equivalent here. Its perfume overwhelms the Allemande instead of seasoning it from within.
• •The cockscomb and cock’s kidney garnish is part of the complete Régence presentation, but raw specimens demand specialist cleaning and preparation. Buy them fully cooked from a reputable poultry supplier. If that cannot be done, omit them without disguise and keep the truffle oval.
• •A thermometer earns its place in this recipe. Both the forcemeat and the suprêmes are pale when properly poached, so color cannot tell you when the chicken is safely cooked.
• •Serve with nothing more elaborate than buttered asparagus in season or slender haricots verts. A weighty white Burgundy or a dry Champagne has enough breadth for the crayfish butter and truffle without flattening the chicken.
• •This dish is best served immediately. If leftovers remain, refrigerate the chicken, quenelles, and sauce separately for no more than two days; reheat the sauce below a simmer and warm the poultry gently in a little stock.

Advance Preparation

• •The crayfish butter can be prepared up to three days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for one month. Soften it only until pliable before making the forcemeat.
• •The velouté base can be made one day ahead, cooled quickly, and refrigerated. Reheat it thoroughly before adding the fresh poaching liquor and egg-yolk liaison.
• •The suprêmes may be shaped and the forcemeat prepared up to four hours before poaching. Keep both covered below 40°F (4°C), with the forcemeat in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
• •Order prepared cockscombs and cock’s kidneys well in advance. They should arrive fully cleaned and cooked; this recipe only warms them for service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)