CookEat Recipe
Boned Stuffed Thrushes on Clear Aspic
Six small boned birds filled with fine veal, cured tongue, prosciutto and black truffle, gently poached and served cold on individual clear meat jellies.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 6 legally supplied food-grade thrushes, professionally plucked and eviscerated, with heads, necks and feet removed; 100 g lean veal for the bird stuffing; 40 g ready-to-eat cooked cured beef tongue: 20 g for the fine stuffing and 20 g in small dice; 30 g prosciutto: 20 g for the fine stuffing and 10 g, preferably fattier, in small dice; 30 g black truffle, brushed clean; reserve clean peelings; 1 egg yolk for the stuffing; About 1 tablespoon Marsala, just enough to soften the stuffing; 500 g boneless veal shank; 150 g professionally cleaned veal foot; Professionally cleaned food-grade feet from 2 or 3 chickens; 2 professionally cleaned food-grade chicken heads with their necks; 2 litres cold water; Salt as needed; 70 g lean veal, very finely minced, for clarifying; 1 egg for clarifying; About 30 ml water for clarifying; 2 pinches sugar and a few drops water for caramel.
Step 2
Prepare the jelly broth in advance. Put the separate 500 g veal shank, 150 g professionally prepared veal foot, food-grade feet from 2 or 3 chickens and two prepared chicken heads with their necks in a pot with 2 litres cold water and a little salt. Cut the feet into pieces first. Simmer very gently for 7–8 hours, skimming, until reduced to about half. Strain into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly, within 2 hours, at 4°C or colder until set. Remove the solid fat. Reserve this broth for poaching the stuffed birds before its final clarification.
Step 3
Keep the thrushes and filling ingredients refrigerated as you work. Reserve 20 g of the cooked cured tongue and the fattier 10 g prosciutto, and cut these and the cleaned truffle into small dice. Mince the 100 g lean veal with the remaining 20 g tongue and 20 g prosciutto. Pound with the clean truffle peelings and a small amount of Marsala until very fine, press through a sieve, then mix in the egg yolk. Fold in the reserved tongue, prosciutto and truffle dice.
Step 4
Have a poultry butcher bone the already eviscerated birds through the back, retaining their skin envelopes. To do this yourself, make a shallow incision along each back, carefully free the wing and leg bones from inside, separate the flesh from the carcass and remove all bones, including the wishbone, tail bones and tough tendons. Draw the boned leg and wing meat inward. This version removes heads and necks rather than leaving them attached. Fill each bird with one-sixth of the mixture, sew securely with food-safe cotton kitchen string and wrap individually in a clean fine undyed cloth suitable for boiling. Cook immediately after stuffing.
Step 5
Gently melt the reserved jelly broth in a snug pan. Add the six wrapped birds and enough hot water to cover if needed. Simmer gently for about 1 hour, checking the thickest poultry meat reaches at least 82°C and each stuffing centre at least 74°C. Lift out carefully, remove the cloths and every piece of string and place the cooked birds in a shallow container. Refrigerate promptly, within 2 hours, at 4°C or colder until cold throughout.
Step 6
Strain the poaching broth and skim any fat. Test a small sample over an ice bath or in the refrigerator; if it does not set, boil the remaining broth to concentrate it, then test again. Cool the broth promptly in shallow containers and refrigerate until cold. For clarification, mix the separate 70 g finely minced veal with the whole egg and about 30 ml water in a saucepan. Add the cold broth, whisk over heat until boiling, then simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Step 7
In a small heavy saucepan, heat two pinches sugar and a few drops water to dark amber without burning black. Dissolve carefully with a little hot broth and add small amounts to the jelly for a pale amber colour. Strain the hot jelly through a clean damp fine cloth without squeezing. Divide into six small shallow ring moulds or nest-shaped moulds and refrigerate promptly until softly set, about 3–4 hours. Do not use unspecified gelatin sheets or try to rescue sour jelly by boiling.
Step 8
Briefly warm the outsides of the moulds with a hot damp cloth and turn out each clear jelly. Set one cold stuffed bird on each jelly so the small ring or hollow resembles a nest. Keep at 4°C or colder until serving. Eat within 2–3 days of first making the broth, including all intermediate chilling; discard anything left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
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