Velouté Dame-Blanche

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
• •Wide saucepan for poaching
• •Small food processor or mortar and pestle
• •Nut-milk bag or double layer of strong cheesecloth
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Two 1/2-teaspoon measuring spoons
• •Small slotted spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Press the almond milk

   Pulse the washed almonds in a small food processor until finely ground. Add the cold water little by little, processing until the almonds become a loose, milky paste. Scrape it into a dampened nut-milk bag or a double layer of strong cheesecloth set over a bowl, then twist and squeeze firmly. You should recover about 1/2 cup of fragrant white almond milk. Press until the pulp feels nearly dry; this extraction is the almond flavor of the dish, so commercial almond drink is not its equivalent.

   Dampen the cloth before filling it. A dry cloth drinks the first spoonful of almond milk before the bowl ever sees it.
2. 2

   Shape pearl quenelles

   Line a small tray with parchment and keep a cup of cold water nearby. Using two damp 1/2-teaspoon measuring spoons, pass small portions of the chilled chicken forcemeat between the spoons to make 24 smooth pearl quenelles. They need not be perfectly round, but they must be small and even so they poach at the same rate. If the forcemeat softens and begins sticking, return it to the cold for ten minutes. Do not stiffen it with flour.

3. 3

   Ready the poaching water

   Bring the poaching water and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt to a gentle tremble in a wide saucepan, then lower the heat so only an occasional bubble reaches the surface. Keep it there while you warm the soup. A hard boil batters the little quenelles and tightens their texture.

4. 4

   Warm the velouté

   Pour the clear poultry velouté into a heavy 4-quart saucepan and bring it slowly to a bare simmer over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally across the bottom. Add the freshly pressed almond milk and hold the mixture just below a simmer for three minutes, long enough for the almond to settle into the poultry foundation. If a skin or small lump appears, whisk gently and pass the soup through a fine sieve. Keep the color pale and the heat restrained.

5. 5

   Poach the quenelles

   Slip the pearl quenelles into the barely trembling water in two batches. Poach for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them once, until they feel lightly springy and reach 165°F (74°C) at the center. Lift them carefully with a small slotted spoon and hold them on a warm plate. If the water begins boiling, pull the pan from the heat at once and let it settle before continuing; the quenelles will recover if caught early.

6. 6

   Temper the liaison

   Whisk the four egg yolks with the cream in a heatproof bowl. Ladle in about 1 cup of hot soup in three additions, whisking constantly, until the bowl feels warm, then pour the tempered mixture back into the saucepan. Stir over very low heat until the velouté is nappant, lightly coating the back of a spoon, or registers about 170 to 175°F (77 to 79°C). Never let it boil. If the first grains appear, remove the pan from the heat, blend briefly, and strain. If the yolks curdle firmly, strain the soup into a clean pan, whisk the spare yolk with the cold cream, temper it with the strained soup, and return it to gentle heat. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Mount and serve

   Take the pan completely off the heat. Whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time, letting each addition disappear before adding the next. Taste and add the remaining salt only if the poultry velouté needs it. If the soup has tightened too far, loosen it one tablespoon at a time with the hot quenelle-poaching water. Divide the chicken dice and three pearl quenelles among eight warmed soup bowls, then ladle the velouté around them and serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Clear poultry velouté is the foundation, not plain chicken broth. It should be pale, finely strained, and substantial enough to coat a spoon lightly before the liaison is added. A dark roasted stock changes both the color and the intent.
• •Use blanched sweet almonds with a fresh, clean scent. Never use bitter almonds, and leave commercial almond drinks on the shelf; their added water and stabilizers cannot replace milk pressed directly from the nut.
• •Keep the chicken forcemeat thoroughly cold from shaping to poaching. Warm forcemeat smears and loses its delicate structure, while cold forcemeat forms clean pearls and sets gently in the water.
• •Serve the Dame-Blanche as a first course with a mineral Chablis or a restrained brut Champagne. The wine should clear the richness without drowning the almond fragrance.

Advance Preparation

• •The clear poultry velouté and chicken forcemeat may be prepared up to two days ahead and kept covered in the cold. Bring neither to room temperature before beginning.
• •The almond milk may be pressed up to four hours ahead and kept covered in the cold. Stir it before adding because a little settlement is natural.
• •The pearl quenelles may be shaped up to four hours ahead and chilled on their lined tray. Poach them only as the velouté is warming, exactly as the original entry requires.
• •Do not add the liaison or butter ahead. Both belong to the last minutes before service, when gentle heat and immediate serving preserve the soup's silken body.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 235g)