Quenelles de Volaille d’Uzès

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Eight 4-ounce (120 ml) oval quenelle moulds or ramekins
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Two medium saucepans
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Piping bag or two dessert spoons
• •Clean lint-free kitchen towel

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach filling chicken

   Bring 2 cups (500 ml) of the chicken stock to the barest simmer in a small saucepan. Add the 225 g portion of chicken, cover, and poach without boiling until the centre reaches 165°F (74°C), about 12 to 15 minutes. Lift it out and cool it promptly, then mince it into pieces no larger than ¼ inch (5 mm). Strain and reserve the poaching stock. A hard boil tightens the white meat, so keep the liquid at a quiet tremble.

2. 2

   Cook and chill panada

   Bring the milk, panada butter, and a pinch of the measured salt just to the boil. Add the panada flour all at once and beat firmly over medium-low heat until the paste gathers into a ball and leaves a faint film on the pan, about 2 minutes. Spread it thinly on a plate, cover its surface, and chill until completely cold. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the cold panada as insurance against a loose forcemeat.

3. 3

   Build one velouté

   Melt the velouté butter without colouring it, stir in the velouté flour, and cook the roux gently for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in 2¾ cups (650 ml) of hot reserved stock, scraping the corners of the pan so no roux hides there. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes, skimming when needed, until the velouté is smooth, lightly reduced, and coats a spoon. Strain it. Reserve ¾ cup (180 ml) for the Allemande and keep the remainder for the Aurore.

4. 4

   Make reduced Allemande

   Reduce the reserved ¾ cup (180 ml) velouté to about ½ cup (120 ml), stirring often. Whisk the egg yolks with the Allemande cream, then temper them with several spoonfuls of hot velouté before returning everything to the saucepan. Stir over very low heat until the Allemande thickens enough to hold the minced chicken together, but never let it boil. Add the lemon juice, salt, and white pepper, then fold in the minced chicken and cool the filling. If the first flecks of yolk appear, take the pan off the heat, whisk in a teaspoon of cold cream, and strain immediately. Ça se rattrape before the liaison fully scrambles.

5. 5

   Emulsify cold forcemeat

   Chill the processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Process the 300 g raw chicken with 1 teaspoon of the measured salt until it becomes smooth and tacky. Add the cold panada in pieces, then the egg white. With the machine pulsing, add the cold cream in four small additions, scraping the bowl between each, until the forcemeat is glossy and holds a soft peak. If a greasy sheen appears, stop adding cream and set the bowl over ice for 10 minutes, then pulse briefly and continue by teaspoons. Ça se rattrape while it is still cool. Poach a teaspoon of forcemeat in barely simmering water for 3 minutes; if it spreads, pulse in the reserved panada one spoonful at a time, and if it is firm or rubbery, pulse in a teaspoon of cold cream.

6. 6

   Line and fill moulds

   Butter eight 4-ounce (120 ml) oval quenelle moulds generously. Spoon or pipe the forcemeat across each bottom and up the sides in an even layer about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick, leaving a hollow in the centre. Divide the cold Allemande-bound chicken among the hollows without letting it touch the moulds, then cover completely with the remaining forcemeat and smooth the tops. Press gently around the seam so the filling is sealed inside. Air pockets and broken seams are the enemies here, not an imperfect oval.

7. 7

   Poach in bain-marie

   Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Set the moulds on a folded towel in a deep roasting pan and pour in hot water to reach halfway up their sides. Cover the pan loosely with foil and poach until the quenelles feel resilient and their centres reach 165°F (74°C), about 20 to 25 minutes. The water should barely tremble. If it begins boiling, add a cup of cold water and lower the heat at once; the texture may be a little coarser, but the quenelles will hold.

8. 8

   Finish Aurore sauce

   While the quenelles poach, whisk the tomato purée into the remaining velouté and simmer gently until the Aurore turns coral, loses any raw tomato taste, and coats the back of a spoon. Strain it, taste for salt and white pepper, then whisk in the diced cold butter off the heat. If the sauce tightens too far, loosen it with reserved stock by the spoonful. If the butter leaves a greasy rim, whisk in a teaspoon of cold water away from the heat until the gloss returns.

9. 9

   Drain and unmould

   Lift the moulds from the bain-marie and let them stand for 3 minutes. Loosen each edge with a thin knife, turn the quenelles onto a clean lint-free kitchen towel, and let the cloth take up the surface moisture, just as the original linen did. If one clings, dip the base of its mould in hot water for 5 seconds and try again. Arrange the quenelles in a circle on a warmed round serving dish, placing any small crack toward the centre.

10. 10

    Sauce and serve

    Spoon the warm Aurore generously over every quenelle, allowing a little sauce to pool around the circle. Cut the truffle julienne, into fine match-shaped rods, and mound it in the open centre of the dish. Serve at once while the forcemeat is tender and the sauce still gleams. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The chicken, panada, cream, processor bowl, and blade must all be cold before the forcemeat begins. Warmth breaks the emulsion and sends the cream into the poaching water; this is technique, not fuss.
• •Oval quenelle moulds give the source dish its proper silhouette. If they are unavailable, eight buttered 4-ounce ramekins preserve the filled construction and gentle poach; only the outline changes, which is an honest home translation.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when the season and market are kind. A good whole preserved truffle is the classical pantry’s sensible answer at other times; drain it well and cut it only just before serving.
• •Serve with buttered spinach or glazed young carrots and a dry white wine from the Gard. The quenelles are rich and delicate, so the accompaniment should give them freshness without shouting over the truffle.
• •Do not replace the butter or cream with fat substitutes. Both sauces and the forcemeat depend on dairy fat for their texture. We don’t apologize for butter.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken stock and panada may be prepared a day ahead. Chill both promptly and keep them covered; the panada must be fully cold before it meets the raw chicken.
• •The velouté and Allemande-bound filling may be made a day ahead. Reheat the velouté gently before turning it into Aurore, and keep the filling cold until the moulds are assembled.
• •The filled moulds may wait covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours before poaching. For a dinner party, poach the quenelles up to 4 hours ahead, chill them promptly, then rewarm them in a covered 300°F (150°C) bain-marie for about 12 minutes before draining, saucing, and garnishing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)