Epigrammes de Perdreau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Flexible boning knife
• •Poultry shears
• •7-cup or larger food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Eight 2-ounce (60 ml) oval silicone moulds or a small silicone financier mould
• •Roasting tin for the bain-marie
• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
• •Food mill or potato ricer
• •Wire rack and rimmed baking tray
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Break down birds

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade. Remove both breast fillets from each partridge by keeping a flexible knife tight against the breastbone and ribs, leaving the wing bones attached to the carcasses as the source directs. Pull away the small minion fillets, remove and debone the legs, and trim every hard tendon from the leg meat. Weigh 12 oz (340 g) of leg and minion meat, cut it into 1-inch pieces, and return it to the cold. Keep the eight breast fillets covered separately. Chop the carcasses, wing bones, and leg bones into manageable pieces with poultry shears.

   The knife should scrape bone as it travels. Meat left on the frame weakens both halves of the dish: the fillets become meagre, and the cullis receives less roasted flavour.
2. 2

   Build the cullis

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped carcasses and bones, then brown them patiently for 12 to 15 minutes, turning until their surfaces are a deep hazelnut colour without any black patches. Add the shallots and carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in 4 cups (960 ml / 960 g) chicken stock, scraping the fond from the pan floor, and add the bouquet garni. Hold at a bare simmer for 45 minutes, skimming excess fat from the surface. Strain without pressing, then reduce the liquid until about 1¼ cups remain and it lightly coats a spoon. Set it aside without adding the finishing butter yet.

3. 3

   Make chestnut purée

   Put the chestnuts and 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) stock in a saucepan. Cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until a chestnut crushes readily beneath a spoon. Drain, reserving the stock, then pass the chestnuts through a food mill or potato ricer while hot. Beat in 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) butter and enough reserved stock to make a smooth purée that holds a soft mound. Season with salt and white pepper. If it becomes dry or grainy, beat in warm stock one spoonful at a time; if it is loose, stir it over low heat until it gathers. Ça se rattrape. Cover and keep warm.

4. 4

   Make the Mousselines

   Keep 2 tablespoons of the measured cream in reserve. Put the thoroughly chilled partridge meat in the cold processor with ½ teaspoon salt and pulse until it becomes a fine, tacky paste. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. Press the paste through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any remaining sinew, return it to the chilled processor, and add the remaining cold cream gradually while pulsing. Season lightly with white pepper. The mousseline should look smooth and satiny, never oily. If it begins to turn greasy, stop immediately, set the bowl over ice, and stir from the edge towards the centre until it tightens, adding the reserved cream only if needed. Poach a teaspoonful in barely simmering water, taste it, and correct the seasoning before moulding the rest.

5. 5

   Mould and poach

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Butter eight small 2-ounce (60 ml) oval moulds and divide the mousseline among them, pressing it firmly into the corners and smoothing the tops. Cover with buttered parchment and set the moulds in a roasting tin. Add enough hot water to reach halfway up their sides, then poach in the oven for 12 to 16 minutes, until the centres reach 165°F (74°C). Rest for 3 minutes and turn them out onto a clean cloth. If one catches or cracks, loosen it with a thin knife and press it gently back into its oval while warm; the egg and truffle coating will cloak the repair.

6. 6

   Crumb the fillets

   Set the broiler to low, or position a rack about 8 inches beneath a high element. Dry the breast fillets carefully and season them on both sides. Roll each one in the 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 56 g) melted butter, then in the fine breadcrumbs, pressing just firmly enough to secure an even coat. Lay them on a buttered wire rack over a tray and chill for 10 minutes so the crumbs settle against the meat.

7. 7

   Grill the fillets

   Grill the crumbed fillets gently beneath the broiler, turning once, until both sides are butter-gold with bronze edges and the centres reach 165°F (74°C), about 7 to 10 minutes in total depending on their thickness. The crumbs should colour at the same pace as the meat cooks. If they darken too quickly, lower the tray and finish the fillets in a 400°F (200°C) oven. Rest them for 5 minutes while you finish the moulded cutlets.

8. 8

   Crust the cutlets

   Blot the poached mousseline cutlets completely dry. Dip each one in beaten egg, let the excess run away, then roll it in the finely chopped black truffle. Press the truffle into the egg with the flat of a knife exactly as the source instructs, then correct the oval cutlet shape with your hands. If the crust slides, the surface was wet or the egg coat was too heavy; blot the exposed place, touch it with a little fresh egg, and press on more truffle.

9. 9

   Toss in butter

   Melt 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) butter in a wide skillet over medium-low heat. Add the truffle-coated cutlets and toss them gently in the butter, turning with two spoons, until the egg has set, the truffle smells full and earthy, and the cutlets are hot through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Keep the heat moderate. Scorched truffle turns bitter, and no amount of sauce can make that pleasant.

10. 10

    Finish and arrange

    Reheat the cullis to a bare simmer and taste for salt. Take it off the heat and monter au beurre, whisk in the 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) cold butter a few cubes at a time, until the sauce gleams and coats the spoon. Do not boil it after this point. If the butter separates, remove the pan from all heat and whisk in a teaspoon of cold stock; ça se rattrape. Arrange the eight natural fillets and eight truffle cutlets alternately in a circle on a warmed platter. Pour the cullis into the centre and send the chestnut purée to the table in a separate warm bowl. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for genuinely young, plump partridges of similar size, preferably farmed birds with their carcasses intact. The dish depends on tender breast meat and enough leg meat to produce eight small Mousselines; four undersized birds leave both preparations short.
• •Fresh black truffle gives the fullest perfume when the season is honest. At other times, drained preserved whole black truffle is the classical pantry answer. Truffle oil cannot form the required crust and tastes nothing like finely chopped truffle warmed in butter.
• •Use unsalted or low-sodium stock. The cullis must reduce considerably before it gains body, and an assertively salted carton becomes briny long before the sauce coats a spoon.
• •Serve with a supple red Burgundy or another fresh, restrained Pinot Noir. The wine should meet the woodland depth of partridge and truffle without flattening the delicate mousseline.

Advance Preparation

• •The carcass cullis can be prepared and reduced up to two days ahead, then cooled quickly and chilled. Reheat it gently and whisk in the cold finishing butter only when the platter is ready.
• •The chestnut purée can be made up to two days ahead. Reheat it over low heat with a spoonful of stock, beating until it recovers its soft, smooth body.
• •The Mousselines can be moulded and poached up to six hours ahead, then chilled promptly and covered. Blot, coat with egg and truffle, and toss them in butter shortly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 585g)