Mousselines de Volaille à la Florentine

Mousselines de Volaille à la Florentine (chicken mousselines in spinach-lined pastry boats) teaches that delicacy begins with controlling moisture. Know this before touching a pan: spinach that still holds water will surrender it to the pastry, so wilt it, squeeze it hard, then stew it in butter until the pan is dry.

The original assumed a saucier on staff, a stock never off the fire, a cook shaping the mousselines, and a salamander waiting to glaze them. At home, good unsalted stock reduced in a small saucepan, a food processor, two spoons, and the oven broiler do the same work for twelve barquettes. The coordination between stations was brigade scaffolding and can go. The cold forcemeat, poaching, buttered spinach, crisp Barquettes (No. 314), and last-minute glaze are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

Done properly, each boat gives three textures at once: crisp butter-gold pastry, dark green spinach with no wetness, and an ivory mousseline so tender it yields beneath the fork. Keep the chicken mixture thoroughly cold, but give your greatest attention to squeezing the spinach dry. That is the step separating a fine stuffed bite from damp pastry.