Recipe: Mousseline of Fish or Chicken

Mousseline of Fish or Chicken

Recipe By: Fonds de Cuisine after Escoffier
Serving Size: 1
Preparation Time: 0:20
Categories: Poultry, Chicken Fish

1 lb fish or chicken breast fillets—boned and skinned
3 each shallots—chopped
1/2 tsp salt and white pepper
3 each whites egg
2 cups cream heavy

1. Pick out any tiny bits of skin or bone and rough chop.

2. Running a Cuisinart at medium speed, purée the shallots

3. Add the fish, and pulse blend it until well chopped. Scrape the bowl at least twice to get an even smooth mixture. Add the salt and pepper, egg whites, and with the motor running, add 1/2 the heavy cream (1 cup) slowly.

4. Scrape down.

5. Add the second half of the cream (1 cup) in a steady stream. Scrape down. At this point the mixture should be perfectly smooth and stiff, and hold its shape well if bagged.

6. Cover it with saran, set it over a bowl of ice in refrigerator for an hour to chill well. It is then ready to use. You may add diced fish, shellfish, etc. to the mix if it is to be used in a terrine. A 1 lb (raw fish) batch will need an 8 cup ring, Butter it well, and spoon in the mousse. It can be layered with other ingredients, such as poached asparagus. Fill the mold 3/4 and cover the top with buttered brown paper. Set it in a pan of boiling water, at least halfway up the mold. Bake 375 F 25 min till a knife comes out clean. Let set 5-10 min and unmold on the serving plate.

Sauce and serve ASAP, as this mousse is light and delicate.

You may use it directly for quenelles. I used to bag them onto a very lightly buttered steam table pan and refrigerate covered with saran. Placing the pan on the hottop I would then add boiling salted water to cover the small bagged out quenelle, and poach them in 3 min. Do not let the water boil, as they are semi fragile.

This recipe works equally well with breast of chicken.