Quenelles d’Huîtres à la Reine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor specified for Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195)
• •Wide 4-quart saucepan for poaching
• •Small heavy saucepan for Sauce Suprême
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Two deep tablespoons
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Slotted spoon
• •Clean lint-free kitchen towel
• •12-inch round serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Keep the mousseline cold

   Prepare the Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) exactly as its own entry directs, using the 4 ounces of chicken fillet and 6 raw oysters as its base. Scrape it into a shallow stainless-steel bowl, press parchment directly against the surface, and nest the bowl over ice. Chill two tablespoons and a small tray as well. Cold is doing structural work here, so return the bowl to the refrigerator whenever your attention moves to the sauce or garnish.

2. 2

   Prepare oysters and asparagus

   Bring the water and poaching salt to a boil in a wide saucepan. Add the asparagus tips and blanch until bright green and just tender, about 2 minutes for fresh tips or 30 seconds for thawed frozen tips. Transfer them to ice water, drain thoroughly, and reserve. Keep the salted water for the quenelles. Put the 8 oysters and their liquor in a small covered pan over gentle heat; remove each oyster as soon as its rim ruffles and its center turns barely opaque, about 45 to 90 seconds. Cool the oysters completely in their liquor, then drain and blot them dry. A hard boil tightens an oyster, so lift the pan from the heat the moment the liquor begins to surge.

3. 3

   Build the Suprême

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the sauce butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook this roux blanc (white roux) for 2 minutes without letting it color. Add the warm chicken stock in four additions, whisking each one smooth before the next, then simmer gently for 12 minutes. Add the cream, reserving 1 tablespoon cold, and simmer for another 6 to 8 minutes, until the sauce is nappant, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon while still flowing freely. Season with the lemon juice, white pepper, and only as much salt as the stock requires. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, then whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter. If the sauce looks greasy at the edge, take it off the heat and whisk in the reserved cold cream. Ça se rattrape. Hold it covered over a bain-marie, a warm water bath, and never let it boil after the finishing butter goes in.

4. 4

   Test the mousseline

   Return the reserved salted water to 175 to 185°F (80 to 85°C), a quiet tremble with no rolling bubbles. Drop in a rounded teaspoon of Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) and poach it until cooked through, about 3 minutes. It should swell slightly and hold a clean oval. If its edges feather or the paste spreads, chill the bowl and spoons for 15 minutes, fold the paste together gently over ice, and test again. Do not add flour, which makes a heavy dumpling while leaving the warm emulsion unfixed.

   Taste the cooked test as well. The oyster and cream should be clear, with nutmeg and pepper behind them rather than in front.
5. 5

   Shape around oysters

   Divide the cold Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) into four equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, wet the two chilled tablespoons in cold water. Set half the portion on one spoon, make a shallow trough, and lay 2 cold poached oysters lengthwise in the center. Cap them with the remaining paste, then pass the mixture between the spoons until it forms a smooth oval about 3½ inches long. Seal every trace of oyster beneath the paste. If the surface grows sticky or slack, put the paste and spoons back over ice for 5 minutes before continuing.

6. 6

   Poach at a tremble

   Lower the four quenelles into the poaching water with a wet slotted spoon, leaving room around each. Hold the water between 175 and 180°F (80 and 82°C) and poach for 15 to 18 minutes, turning the quenelles gently halfway through. They are ready when they feel lightly resilient, look evenly opaque, and register 165°F (74°C) in the thickest layer of chicken mousseline. If the water begins to boil, lower the heat and add a small splash of cold water at the side of the pan. The quenelles will recover, but boiling left unchecked makes them coarse.

7. 7

   Mask and garnish

   Warm a round serving platter and bring the Sauce Suprême back to a flowing spoon-coating consistency over gentle heat, loosening it with a spoonful of warm stock if necessary. Melt the asparagus butter in a sauté pan, add the drained tips, and toss only until the butter clings and the asparagus is hot. Lift the quenelles onto a clean lint-free towel and blot them gently, then arrange them in a circle on the warm platter. Mask each quenelle generously with Sauce Suprême, gather the buttered asparagus tips in the center, and lay one fine truffle slice on every quenelle. Serve the remaining sauce alongside. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy 14 medium oysters in total: six for the mousseline and eight for the centers. Enormous oysters are difficult to seal inside a tablespoon-shaped quenelle; medium oysters give you their flavor without breaking the oval.
• •The test quenelle is not brigade ceremony. It tells you whether the emulsion is cold enough to hold before eight good oysters disappear inside it. Test first, shape second.
• •Out of asparagus season, use frozen asparagus tips and warm them only long enough to heat through. They were frozen at their best and hold the source dish more honestly than tired fresh stalks or soft canned spears.
• •Use fresh black truffle when it is good, or a properly preserved whole truffle from a jar. If neither is available, omit the slices. Truffle oil does not supply the texture or quiet earthy flavor this garnish is meant to give.
• •Butter and cream are structural ingredients in Sauce Suprême. Use the real things, keep the heat gentle, and the sauce will remain glossy. We don't apologize for butter.
• •Pour a mineral Chablis or a dry Champagne. Both have enough acidity for the cream and enough restraint to leave the oysters in command.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat them the following day. Reheat covered over gentle heat until the center reaches 165°F (74°C), loosening the sauce with a spoonful of cream if it tightens.

Advance Preparation

• •The Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead, covered directly on its surface, and kept thoroughly chilled. Do not shape the quenelles until the poached oyster centers are cold.
• •The asparagus can be blanched and the 8 center oysters poached up to 4 hours ahead. Chill both promptly and keep them covered separately.
• •Sauce Suprême can be cooked through the cream reduction and strained up to 2 hours ahead. Cool it promptly, refrigerate it, then reheat gently and whisk in the final tablespoon of butter shortly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)