French

Quenelles de brochet sauce Nantua

Tender pike quenelles are made in the Lyonnais manner with a cooked panade, chilled fish mousseline, and gentle poaching. They are finished in the oven under a coral-tinted Nantua sauce enriched with crayfish and cream.

Ingredients

• Skinless pike fillet, very fresh and pin-boned250g
• Whole milk125ml
• Unsalted butter85g
• Plain flour45g
• Egg1 large
• Egg white1 large
• Heavy cream, well chilled180ml
• Fine sea salt1 tsp, plus more for poaching
• White pepper1/4 tsp
• Freshly grated nutmeg1 small pinch
• Fish fumet300ml
• Cooked crayfish tails, with shells if available120g
• Shallot, finely chopped1 small
• Cognac1 tbsp
• Dry white wine60ml
• Tomato paste1 tsp
• Crème fraîche2 tbsp

Method

1. Make the panade by bringing the milk and 30g butter to a simmer in a small saucepan.
2. Add the flour all at once and stir firmly over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the paste is smooth, dense, and pulls away from the pan.
3. Spread the panade on a plate, cover, and chill until completely cold.
4. Trim the pike carefully, removing any skin, bones, and visible sinew, then cut the flesh into small pieces.
5. Pulse the cold pike in a food processor with the salt, white pepper, and nutmeg until finely minced.
6. Add the cold panade, egg, and egg white, then process briefly until the mixture is smooth and elastic.
7. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve or tamis to remove remaining fibers, keeping it as cold as possible.
8. Return the farce to a chilled bowl and gradually work in 120ml chilled cream until glossy and light.
9. Cover the farce and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm.
10. For the Nantua sauce, melt 30g butter in a saucepan and soften the shallot without browning.
11. Add the crayfish shells if available and cook for 2 minutes, then add the cognac and let it reduce almost completely.
12. Stir in the white wine, fish fumet, and tomato paste, then simmer for 15 minutes.
13. Strain the sauce, pressing well on the shells, then return it to the pan.
14. Add the remaining 60ml cream and crème fraîche, simmer until lightly thickened, then whisk in the remaining 25g butter and add the crayfish tails.
15. Bring a wide pan of salted water or light fish fumet to a bare simmer.
16. Shape the chilled farce into 4 large oval quenelles using two wet tablespoons.
17. Slide the quenelles into the barely simmering liquid and poach for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, until they are puffed and firm to the touch.
18. Lift the quenelles out with a slotted spoon and drain them on a clean towel.
19. Heat the oven to 200°C.
20. Spoon a little Nantua sauce into a gratin dish, arrange the quenelles on top, and coat them generously with the remaining sauce.
21. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the quenelles are lightly swollen.
22. Serve immediately, with extra crayfish tails spooned over the sauce.

Common questions