Pain de Volaille Froid

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy covered casserole for Poëlings (No. 250)
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Heatproof bowl and saucepan for a gentle water bath
• •Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
• •Food processor
• •1-quart (950 ml) timbale or charlotte mould
• •Shallow pan for setting the aspic croûtons
• •Chilled serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the pale chicken

   Prepare the chicken by Poëlings (No. 250), following that method while observing the instruction specific to this dish: do not let the skin colour, and remove the bird as soon as it is just cooked through. The thickest part must reach 165°F (74°C), but no further. Transfer the chicken to a tray, reserve all the buttery poëling liquor and vegetables, and cool the bird promptly until it can be handled safely.

   A small, tender chicken matters more than an imposing one. The meat must purée smoothly, and an older roasting bird will leave fibres no sieve can charm away.
2. 2

   Concentrate the liquor

   Leave the butter with the reserved poëling vegetables for now. Add the strong veal stock and 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the cooled burned brandy, then simmer gently for 10 minutes so the stock recovers the savour held in the butter. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the vegetables lightly, then remove every trace of surface grease. Boil the strained liquor until exactly 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) remain. Measure it rather than guessing, because this concentration gives the emulsion its flavour without making it loose. Let it cool until warm.

3. 3

   Clothe the cold mould

   Clothe a chilled 1-quart (950 ml) timbale or charlotte mould with chicken aspic jelly according to Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916), using the book's coating method but the poultry jelly required here. Keep the coated mould cold. Pour about ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) of the remaining jelly into a shallow pan in a layer about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick and chill it for the croûtons, reserving the rest in a fluid, barely warm state.

4. 4

   Prepare the chicken

   Lift off the breast fillets and remove their skin. Cut the fillets across the grain into wide, thin collops. Dip each truffle slice into the half-melted aspic, place one on each collop, and arrange the collops closely over the bottom and sides of the coated mould, truffle facing outward. Completely bone the remaining chicken, retaining the cooked skin but rejecting bones, cartilage, and sinew. Process the meat and skin to a very fine paste, then press it through a fine-mesh sieve. Keep the purée covered at cool room temperature for no more than 30 minutes while the emulsion is made.

5. 5

   Build the emulsion

   Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making certain the bowl never touches the water. Whisk the 2 tablespoons of reduced poëling liquor with the 3 yolks until pale, thick, and able to hold the whisk's trace. Take the bowl off the heat and whisk in the butter one small cube at a time, returning the bowl to the gentle water only when the butter stops melting. Keep the mixture below 150°F (65°C). Direct heat scrambles the yolks and makes the finished pain grainy. If butter begins to pool but there are no curds, remove the bowl and whisk in 1 teaspoon of cold water. If fine egg grains appear, strain immediately, whisk the spare yolk with 1 teaspoon of cold water in a clean bowl, then add the strained mixture back little by little over the gentlest water bath. Ça se rattrape, provided you move before the curds harden.

6. 6

   Add gelatin and purée

   Dissolve the softened gelatin in the 2 tablespoons of boiling water, then whisk it thoroughly into the finished emulsion. Pass the sauce through the clean fine-mesh sieve, the honest home equivalent of the tammy. Add the sieved chicken purée in three portions, mixing each completely before the next. Taste and add salt only if needed, remembering that cold softens seasoning. The filling should be smooth, thick, and barely fluid. If cold chicken makes the butter set in flecks, warm the bowl over the water bath for five seconds at a time while stirring. Do not let the mixture become hot enough to melt the aspic lining.

7. 7

   Fill and chill

   Spoon the filling carefully into the lined mould, pressing it into the curves without disturbing the breast collops. Tap the mould twice on a folded towel to release hidden air pockets, level the top, cover, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. The gelatin, butter, and chicken must set as one body before unmoulding; impatience here produces a slump, and no serving platter can argue with gravity.

8. 8

   Unmould and serve

   Pack the cold rice into a low, firm cushion on a chilled serving platter, making it slightly smaller than the mould. Cut the set jelly from the shallow pan into croûtons, small diamonds of aspic jelly, and keep them cold. Wrap the mould for five seconds in a towel wrung from warm water, dry it, then invert it squarely onto the rice. If it resists, repeat for two seconds rather than soaking it and softening the emulsion. Ring the rice with the aspic croûtons, let the pain stand for 10 minutes, and cut it with a thin knife dipped in warm water and wiped dry. À table!

Chef Tips

• •If there is no pot of strong veal stock at hand, dilute a good low-salt veal demi-glace to strong stock strength. The liquor reduces to two tablespoons, so excessive salt would become punishing.
• •Use cultured butter with a clean, sweet flavour and at least 82 percent fat. Keep it cool enough to hold its shape but soft enough to yield to a finger; melted or greasy butter rushes the emulsion.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid in season. A whole preserved truffle is the honest classical-pantry answer at other times, but drain it well and slice it thinly so its dark pattern remains distinct under the jelly.
• •The aspic must taste clear and well seasoned before it sets. Cold quiets flavour, and weak jelly contributes nothing but wobble.
• •Serve with a sharply dressed salad of tender leaves and a dry Champagne or firm white Burgundy. The acidity meets the butter; the dish needs contrast, not another rich sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken and concentrated poëling liquor may be prepared one day ahead. Refrigerate them separately, then bring the sieved chicken purée toward cool room temperature before building the emulsion.
• •The filled pain is best assembled the day before serving and chilled overnight. Keep it covered and unmould only when the rice cushion and aspic croûtons are ready.
• •The rice cushion and aspic croûtons may be arranged up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated. Cool cooked rice promptly, keep it cold, and discard leftovers that have stood at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
• •Serve the finished pain within 2 days of assembly and keep it refrigerated until shortly before slicing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 440g)