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Aspic of Chicken
Once the recipe for aspic jelly No 1 3 slices cooked beet 3 slices cooked carrot Parsley 1 hard cooked egg 3 cups very tender cold chicken Salt and pepper celery salt 1 cup mayonnaise 1/2 bunch celery, finely shredded Rinse a 3-pt. border mold in cold water and pour in semi-congealed aspic to cover the bottom, set in ice to become firm, and as soon as they can laid without sinking, garnish with the prepared vegetables, bits of parsley and egg. Pour on more of the jelly and harden again. Sprinkle the chicken well with salt, pepper and celery salt and mix with them some of the cool aspic. As soon as vegetables are firmly bedded in their layer, fill mold nearly to top with chicken, pour over more liquid aspic to make sure every crevice is filled, and cool again. Fill to brim with aspic and set on ice until firm. At serving time turn on a flat dish, fill the center with celery finely shaved and dressed with mayonnaise. Garnish with delicate celery leaves.
A moulded chicken aspic built up in layers, of the kind that filled 1930s refrigerator menus. The whole thing depends on catching the aspic at the right stage of setting, so work with the mould on ice and keep a bowl of the jelly liquid on the side.
- The hinge: semi-congealed aspicEach layer must be poured when the jelly is the consistency of raw egg white — thick enough to hold a slice of beet in place, still fluid enough to run into crevices. Too warm and the garnish sinks and the colours bleed; too cold and the layers set as separate slabs that shear apart when unmoulded.
- Aspic jelly No. 1The recipe assumes a separate stock-based aspic elsewhere in the book: strong clarified chicken or veal stock set with gelatine. Allow enough jelly to fill the 3-pint mould around the meat — roughly three to four cups, depending on how tightly the chicken is packed. If substituting powdered gelatine in stock, allow about 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) per 2 cups for a firm mould that will stand on a flat dish.
- Border mouldA ring mould, 3 pints, i.e. 6 cups. Any tube or savarin pan of that volume works. The hollow centre is structural to the dish — it holds the celery salad.
- Rinsing the mouldRinsing in cold water rather than oiling leaves a thin film that helps release. Turn out by dipping the base in warm water for a few seconds and inverting onto a chilled platter.
- Cooked chickenThree cups of diced cold chicken is the meat from a 3 1/2 to 4 lb bird, or about 1 lb of poached breast and thigh. Poached rather than roasted meat gives a paler, more tender result, which is what "very tender" is after.
- Set in iceThe original assumes a pan of ice water, which chills faster than a refrigerator shelf. A modern fridge works but each layer will want 20-30 minutes; the finished mould needs at least 4 hours, better overnight.
- Celery salt and seasoningSeason the chicken more aggressively than tastes right warm — cold gelatine mutes salt considerably. Taste the aspic itself before the final pour.
- Yield and servingServes 6 to 8 as a lunch or supper main. The mayonnaise-dressed celery should be shredded and dressed at the last moment, or it weeps into the centre of the ring.