Truffle chicken mousse / farce
Ingredients
The interior garnish
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 chicken carcass
- 50 g black winter truffle I use Australian winter truffle
- 100 g shiitake mushrooms
- 1 chicken heart
- 2 chicken livers
The chicken mousse / farce
- 200 g chicken meat and trimmings we made before
- 5 g salt
- 30 g egg white
- 120 g cold cream 35% fat
Instructions
The interior garnish
- Begin by removing all the skin and fat from the breasts. Keep the skin with the rest in your fridge. Then cut the chicken breasts in half and keep the thick side in your fridge for later.
- Now take the carcass and scrape any meat that’s left on the bones off. Add it to the thin side of the chicken breast. In total you need 200 grams. Keep it in your fridge for later. The cleaned carcass you can also use for the sauce.Â
- Take the black winter truffle and trim the sides. It needs to be around 40 to 50 grams. Chop the trimmings in very small pieces.
- The trimmed truffle you can slice in thin slices, before slicing it in julienne and then in small cubes also known as brunoise. You need 25 grams for the interior and the rest of the brunoise you can keep for the decoration. Keep both in your fridge for later.
- Now take the shiitake mushrooms and separate the stems from the caps. Cut both in small even pieces or cubes. It doesn’t need to be very precise.
- Drizzle some oil in a hot pan and pan fry the chicken heart and livers on a high heat. Add some salt for seasoning and keep on move the heart and livers to get the highest possible heat. Once a nice color has formed you can cool them down in your fridge.
- In the same pan you can pan fry the shiitake mushrooms. Also add some salt for seasoning and pan fry them till a nice golden color has formed all around. Then take it out of the pan and also let it cool down in your fridge.Â
- Season the thick parts of the chicken breasts with salt. Add a drizzle of oil to a new pan and pan fry them on a low medium heat till light golden has formed and they are cooked on both sides.
- Let the chicken rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting them in even cubes. Then also cut the chicken heart and the chicken livers. Keep all the portioned garnish covered in your fridge for later.Â
The chicken mousse / farce
- Mix the 200 grams of cold chicken trimmings with the salt and the egg white. Blend it till smooth but beware that it doesn’t heat up from the friction. Just keep on feeling the side of the blender to double check this.
- Once smooth add the cold cream and blend it for a couple more seconds. Directly stop when the cream is incorporated to prevent the mousse from splitting. Now to bring the mousse to the next level you can press it through a fine flour sieve. This is optional, but it does really improve the texture. I always use a dough scraper to get it done fast and proper.
- Weigh 100 grams of the mousse in a bowl. The remaining mousse you can transfer in another bowl and add the chopped truffle trimmings. Mix it well and then transfer it into a piping bag. Keep it in your fridge for later.Â
- Then take the bowl with the 100 grams of chicken mousse and add the shiitake mushroom, the chicken liver, heart, breast and the 25 grams of truffle brunoise. Fold it well till it’s a thick paste.
- Now use this paste to fill the interior mold and press it down so no air pockets can form. Level it with a pallet knife. Click here for more information on the mold. Then cover the paste with some wrap and steam the mold at 64 °C (147 °F) for 30 minutes.
- Once cooked let it cool down completely before removing it from the mold. Keep it in your fridge for later.
- Now spray some pan coating in the Alex Dilling mold and pipe the truffle chicken mousse on the inside. Press the piping bag down so no air pockets can form and then press it down with the back on a spoon so insure you also get that beautiful pattern.
- Then gently press the interior in the mousse before you can spread the remaining mousse on top. Now place another piece of wrap on top and steam it again at 64 °C (147 °F) for 30 minutes.
- After that place it upside down on another tray and remove the mold. Leave it uncovered in your fridge for at least a couple of hours.Â
How to finish the mousse / farce
- Take the chicken mousse and torch the top all around with a blowtorch. Heat it up in a steam oven at 60 °C °C (140 °F) for around 10 minutes.
- I then finish it with a madeira chicken sauce and heat it some more in a normal oven that’s 70 °C °C (158 °F). Keep on glazing it in between till the center of the mousse is hot and the outside has a beautiful shine.Â
- Once you’re happy with the glaze decorate the top with truffle brunoise, pickled mustard seeds and lemon thyme leaves.
