Supreme of Chicken Sandrine Serves 8

In a classic chaud-froid, chicken is spread with goose liver pate, but in the recipe here it is coated with a savory mousse made with the fat and liver of the chicken flavored with cognac and heavy cream. This chicken mousse could also be served by itself on toast for a party.




The chickens are simmered for a short time and are allowed to continue cooking off the heat in the poaching liquid. This produces a moist, flavorful meat. After the chickens are removed, the liquid is cooked further with the chicken feet (to increase the gelatin content), carrots, leeks, celery, onion, and seasonings to make a stronger stock. Some of the stock is reduced further and made into a rich, concentrated chicken supreme sauce that is used to coat the chicken pieces, and the remainder of the stock is turned into an aspic.

The decoration is fanciful and striking for a summer buffet and should be done only with vegetables or edible flower petals. The green from scallions, leeks, and chives as well as the carrot strips and any other vegetables that have a hard texture are first blanched in boiling water to make them limp and pliable. Do not use any decorative elements that would impart a bitter or other unpleasant taste to the chicken pieces.

This beautiful dish can be done in steps. The chicken can be poached, the mousse prepared, and the chicken pieces coated with the supreme sauce the day before serving. The decoration and aspic glazing, however, should he done only a few hours ahead or the aspic will tend to dry, crack, and get rubbery. The dish should be served cool to cold but not ice cold.


The supreme sauce, the aspic, and the mousse should he highly seasoned as the taste of spices and salt tends to diminish in a dish that is eaten cold.

Yield: 8 servings




POACHING THE CHICKENS
About 1/2 lb. chicken feet, if obtainable
2 chickens, about 3 lb. each, eviscerated, heads and necks included
1 large leek, cleaned
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 large rib celery
1 medium onion studded with 6 cloves
1 tsp. salt
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
3 qt. water

CHICKEN MOUSSE
2 lumps fat from inside the chicken near the tail. (They should be about the weight of the chicken livers, below.)
1 large shallot, peeled and sliced (2 tsp.)
1 small clove garlic, crushed and peeled
1/4 tsp. thyme leaves
2 chicken livers

1 Tb. butter
1 Tb. cognac
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
12 drops Tabasco sauce
1/2 c. heavy cream




CHICKEN ASPIC
4 c. stock
2 envelopes gelatin (about 1 1/2 Tb. –use only 1 envelope if stock is already gelatinous due to the addition of chicken feet)
1 c. coarsely chopped green of leeks
1/2 c. coarsely chopped carrots
1 C. coarsely chopped parsley
1 large sprig fresh tarragon, or 1/2 tsp. dried
2 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

SUPREME SAUCE
2 c. reduced stock
1 envelope gelatin (about 3/4 Tb.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
1 1/2 tsp. potato starch dissolved in 1 Tb. water
1 1/3 c. heavy cream


GARNISHES
Leaves of chives, leeks, and scallions
2 to 3 pieces red pepper skin peeling
2 to 3 pieces carrot peeling
Petals of edible flowers (violets, roses, or nasturtiums)
Sieved yolk of 1 hard-cooked egg



If you can obtain them, chicken feet will give taste and a lot of gelatinous elements to the stock. Wash the feet first thoroughly under water and dry them. Char them over an open flame until the skin becomes darkened in spots and starts to blister. Pull the skin off the feet. It will slip off easily. Once the scaly surface of the skin has been removed, clean the feet underneath.


Place the chickens, breast-side down, in a deep saucepan, preferably stainless steel, with the optional feet, 1 large leek, 2 medium carrots, 1 large rib celery, 1 medium onion studded with 6 cloves, and 1 tsp. salt. Add the 2 to 3 bay leaves, 1 tsp. thyme, and 3 qt. water.




Bring to a boil (it should take 12 to 15 minutes), cover, and simmer at a gentle boil for about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside, still covered, to allow the chickens to poach simply in their own accumulated heat for 45 minutes. Remove the chickens from the lukewarm poaching liquid.

After the chickens have cooled slightly and can be handled, bone them out. Using your hands, remove the wishbone and the two legs. Split the breast in half.

The breast meat should be moist in the center and pull off the bone easily.
Separate the thigh from the drumstick and bone the pieces. Separate the wing from the breast. Discard the chicken skin. Each breast will weigh about 4 to 5 oz. With each thigh and some meat from each drumstick, make 2 additional pieces also weighing about 4 to 5 oz. each. (Note: If the leg meat pieces are still smaller than the breasts, the fillet pieces from the breasts can be placed with the legs so the pieces (leg and breast) are about equal in size. The trimmings (without fat or sinew) from one chicken should weigh about 6 oz. Set this aside for the mousse. Repeat with the second chicken.

Return the bones (without the skin) back to the stock with the vegetables and boil gently until the stock is reduced to 6 c. Strain the stock and refrigerate it.

To make the mousse: Cut the fat into little pieces and place in a skillet over medium heat, until it starts melting and most of the fat is released. Cook for a few minutes and add the 2 tsp. chopped shallot, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1/4 tsp. thyme, an the 2 chicken livers, quartered. Saute briefly over medium to high heat for 1 1/2 minutes. The liver should still be pink inside. Place the contents of the skillet in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. While the machine is running, add the 1 Tb. butter, 1 Tb. cognac, 1 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and 12 drops Tabasco, and continue processing for a few seconds, until very smooth. Push the mixture through a food mill fitted with the fine screen to remove any pieces of sinew that were not pureed in the food processor.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Whip the 1/2 c. of cream until it forms a soft peak and mix into the mousse mixture. Taste again and correct the seasoning, if needed. Refrigerate.
Spread the underside of the chicken breasts and the pieces of combined thigh and drumstick with the mousse.


When the stock is cold, remove any remaining fat. The 6 c. of concentrated stock left should be gelatinous.

To make the aspic: In a saucepan, preferably stainless steel, combine the 4 c. of stock with 1-2 envelopes of gelatin, I c. chopped green of leeks, 1/2 c. chopped carrots, I c. chopped parsley, I sprig tarragon, 2 egg whites, 1112 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Mix well and bring the mixture to a strong boll, stirring often to prevent it from scorching. As soon as it comes to a strong boil, set aside and do not disturb for 15 minutes. Strain through a sieve lined with wet paper towels. You should have approximately 2 1/2 c. of very clear aspic.

For the supreme sauce: Reduce the remaining 2 c. of stock to 1 c. of concentrated stock. Strain through a fine strainer. Sprinkle the 1 envelope of gelatin on top of the stock and add the 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. white pepper, and the 1112 tsp. potato starch dissolved in 1 Tb. water. Bring to a boll, stirring, so the mixture thickens and the gelatin melts. Add the 1 1/3 c. cream, stirring gently to incorporate, and strain again through a fine strainer into a bowl. You should have 2 c. of sauce.

Place the chicken pieces meat-side up on a wire rack set on a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap. Transfer half the supreme sauce to a bowl and place it over ice. Stir gently until the mixture starts to set.
As soon as the mixture starts to set, using a large tablespoon, coat the chicken pieces with the sauce, working as quickly as you can. Coat them as thoroughly as possible but don't be concerned if some of the sauce runs down the chicken and falls onto the plastic-lined tray beneath.


Lift up the rack containing the coated chicken, place on a clean tray and refrigerate. Carefully lift the plastic wrap containing the sauce that dripped down during the coating procedure and return it to the bowl. Remelt the sauce, then stir gently again over ice and repeat the process, coating each chicken piece two or three times, until it has a good 1/8-in. thickness of sauce all over. Most of the sauce should be used.

To prepare the garnish: Blanch the chive, leek, and scallion leaves for 10 to 15 seconds in boiling water, then lift them out, immediately run cold water over them, and dry them thoroughly with paper towels. Do the same with the 2 to 3 red pepper and carrot peels, blanching them for 30 seconds, and the edible flowers, blanching them for only a few seconds. Blanching the vegetables makes them limp and pliable so they can be arranged more attractively on the chicken pieces.

Cut pieces of green from the chives, leeks, and scallions to make "stems" of flowers. Cur out little triangle shapes and "flowers" from the red pepper skin and carrot peel and arrange them on the chicken pieces. Add a little sieved egg yolk to make the "calyx" for each flower.

Although the decoration can be the same for each piece, you can create a different design for each supreme.

Cool some of the aspic over ice until syrupy. With the rack containing the chicken pieces positioned over a plasticlined tray, coat the top of the decorated chicken pieces with the aspic. As when coating the chicken with the sauce, don't worry if some of the aspic falls through onto the tray-, it is retrievable. Place the coated chicken in the refrigerator until cold. Retrieve the aspic from the tray, remelt, and cool it over ice until syrupy and coat the chicken again. Repeat the process a third time to be sure the chicken is well-coated. Place the remaining aspic in a bowl and refrigerate until set.

At serving time, arrange the chicken pieces attractively on a large platter, preferably porcelain (because the mousse on the bottom should not be on metal for too long).
Unmold the aspic that has solidified. Cut it into 1/4-in. -thick slices and cut the slices into strips.

Cut the strips crosswise into small squares of shiny aspic that resemble jewels.
Arrange the aspic squares attractively around the supreme of chicken and place the platter on the buffet table.
Serve on individual plates. Notice that the chicken is moist and tender and the mousse underneath flavorful. Serve cool but not ice cold.