Lyon (Rhône)-Le Grand Colombier (Ain), 09/13/2020
Talking
about chickens, the arrival département, named Ain (pronounce “un”,
like “1”, its number appearing on the car plaques), is famous for its Poulets
de Bresse, the Rolls-Royce of chickens… or rather the Bugatti (a French car
make) as they are recognizable by their blue (legs), white (plumage) and red
(crest) colors. Other specialties of the region’s many lakes and rivers are the
red-leg crayfish and the Northern pike which both gave rise to an iconic Lyon’s
dish, the “pike dumplings with a crayfish sauce”, aka quenelle de brochet
sauce Nantua.
The
history of this dish is interesting. Quenelles, i.e. a starch dough ball
poached in a broth has been known since a very long time ago. For instance,
they were referred to by Apicius. They were introduced in the East of France
and therefore the Lyon’s area by German cooks (hence the name quenelle
deriving from the German Knödel that gave the English word “noodle”). The Lyon’s
people got the idea to mix this dough with fish meat, and in particular pike
meat. The truth is that pike has a very delicate taste, but it is full of
bones! Therefore, grinding it and mixing it with a dough appeared as a great
way to enjoy it. For any reason, the pâtissiers (pastry shop owners)
obtained the monopoly of this preparation that was very much appreciated by the
Lyon’s families on Sunday mornings after the mass. At this time, quenelles also
incorporated beef lard and as a consequence, they were quite rich and heavy! Till
the charcutiers got the idea to replace the lard by butter or cream, so
ending the pâtissiers’ monopoly…
Although
I am neither a pâtissier nor a charcutier, pike dumplings with a crayfish sauce
was my yesterday stage’s dish… or “some kind of” as I obviously found no Northern
pike and no (live) red-leg crayfish in the Cleveland area! Walleye (I think it
is sometimes named walleye pike) is a fish similar to the Northern pike, with
apparently much less bones. Finding a substitute for the crayfish was less
obvious, but lobster brings an equivalent rich and delicate taste. As a matter
of fact, I discovered afterwards that a lot of recipes online call for lobster
instead of crayfish…
The
recipe principle is simple and consists in: (1) making a panade, i.e. a dough
involving butter, flour, milk (or water) and eggs similar to a pâte à chou,
(2) mixing it with the previously ground and sieved (the bones, always) pike
meat (because of the bones, of course!), some butter or crème fraîche, and some
eggs again, (3) keeping the whole in the fridge for several hours, (4) shaping
the quenelles with two big tablespoons and poaching them in boiling water or a
broth, (5) making a sauce with a crayfish butter (or optionally a crayfish
bisque), (6) baking the quenelles with the sauce, and (5) serving the whole
with a white Burgundy… This is the theory. In practice, every cook has its own
version, regarding the combination of eggs, egg whites or egg yolks, the proportion
of ingredients in the panade (this is definitively no more an accurately
measured pâtissier dish), the incorporation of butter, clarified butter
or crème fraîche in the quenelle, the use or not of a roux in the sauce, etc.
The recipe proposed here results from my personal synthesis of all those options and combinations… As it was beyond excellent, I validated it!!!
* During the Tour de France, combining two of my passions,
biking and cooking, I will try to present (almost) every day a recipe from the
route followed by the peloton.
|
Levels of
difficulty |
Cost |
Preparation |
Resting |
Cooking |
|
n |
$$$ |
60 minutes |
>12 hours |
120 minutes |
|
Ingredients
4 servings
Panade: §
200cl milk §
65g of butter §
120g of flour § 3 eggs + 2 yolks* §
Salt §
White pepper § Nutmeg Quenelle: § 250g of skinned
walleye filet § 350g of panade
(see above) § 2 eggs + 2 whites* § 3 tbsp crème fraîche § S&P Sauce: § 1 living (preferably
female) lobster for the broth § 1 carrot, chopped § 1 celery stem,
chopped § ½ big or 1 medium
red onion, chopped § 50g butter (to
sauté the lobster shells) § A shot of Cognac § A glass of dry
white wine § Herbs (sage, bay
leaves…) § ¼ gallon of water § 4 tbsp of tomato
coulis § Pepper or piment d'Espelette
as per your taste § 50g butter (to
make a roux) § 50g flour § 4 tbsp of heavy
cream Final step: § 2 garlic cloves,
crushed * I.e. a total of 7 eggs |
Instructions Panade: § Pour
the flour on the heated butter and mix vigorously till obtaining a dry mixture § Add
in one shot the milk and simmer over medium or so while whisking regularly
till obtaining a thicker mixture § Simmer
for 1-2 additional minutes to fully cook the flour and take off the burner § Add
one by one the eggs and yolks while stirring vigorously § Add
the salt, pepper and grated nutmeg § Spread on a flat dish, cover with a transparent film, and let it cool down to room temperature Quenelle: § Chop
and grind the walleye filets § Add
350g of the panade and mix it with the ground walleye § Add
the eggs, the whites, the crème fraîche and S&P, and mix the whole § Blend
the whole rapidly in a high-speed blender (Vitamix) to obtain a smooth texture,
which should avoid sieving it § Spread
on a flat dish, cover with a transparent film, and let it cool down in the
fridge for at least a couple of hours Sauce: § Plunge the lobster
alive in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Keep the water to poach the
quenelle § Remove the head
and the claws from the tail, and separate the elbows from the claws § Reserve the tail and
the claws in the fridge § Cut the head in
two parts, remove, and pitch the stomach (the little pouch looking like
plastic) and the gills that bring bitterness, § Crush the heads,
the elbows, and the legs, recuperating the precious liquid, coral and
tomalley that may leak § Heat 50g of butter
in a pan or Dutch oven over medium, add the carrot, celery, and onion, and sweet
them for a few minutes § Add the head,
elbows and legs and sauté over medium-high for a few minutes § Flambé with the Cognac § Add the white wine
and let it boil a minute to eliminate the alcohol § Add the herbs, the
piment, the coulis and part of the water § Let it reduce, lid
on, for a few hours, then keep it in the fridge (ideally) overnight § The following day
(or a few hours later), re-heat the lobster broth and let it reduce for 1
additional hour § Strain the broth,
reserve it, and keep the big pieces of shell § Make a roux with
the butter and the flour, and add the heavy cream till the whole thickens § Add the necessary
quantity of lobster broth and whisk regularly § Adjust the
seasoning and reserve Final step: § Take the water used
to poach the living lobster, drop the lobster shells set aside and the garlic
cloves in the water, and put to boil § When the water
boils, let it simmer, and take the walleye quenelle dough out of the fridge § With a big spoon
(I like to use service spoon, bigger than tablespoon) plunged in the hot
water, shape an oval-shaped quenelle, and plunge it delicately in the simmering
water. Repeat the operation till you have no more dough. The quenelles will
float on the surface after around 1 minute § Let simmer for around
30 minutes, flipping over the quenelles after 15 minutes § Recuperate the
quenelles and let them drip for around 5 minutes § While the
quenelles are dripping, take the claws and the tail* that you had kept in the
fridge and poach them in the hot water § Pour generously (1/2
cm at least) the sauce in a serving dish or individual dishes, place the
quenelle(s) in the dish(es) and bake at 350F for around 20 minutes. 5 minutes
before the end, pour some sauce on the quenelles to coat them § Remove the poached
claws and tails out of their shells § Take quenelles out
of the oven, and place a claw or a tail medallion on top of each of them § WOW! |
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