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Mousse-de-Poulet, No. 3
Mould the mousse in a ring mould and fill in the centre with equal parts of cucumber or asparagus tips and diced sweetbread; marinate the sweetbread with French dressing, and drain thoroughly before mixing with the cucumber or asparagus.
Garnish with mayonnaise dressing.
This is the third in a series of variations, so it assumes you already have the chicken mousse mixture from the preceding numbers: pounded or finely ground cooked chicken bound with a gelatine-set stock and lightened with whipped cream. What follows here is only the moulding and garnish.
- The hinge: drain the sweetbread hardMarinated sweetbread that goes into the ring still wet will bleed dressing into the mousse and slacken it. Drain in a sieve, then blot on a towel before combining with the cucumber or asparagus.
- Sweetbreads need work firstVeal sweetbreads are sold raw. They are soaked in several changes of cold water, blanched, refreshed, peeled of their outer membrane and connective tissue, then pressed under a weight until firm before being diced. Order them ahead; most supermarkets do not stock them.
- French dressingIn this period the term means a plain vinaigrette, roughly three parts oil to one part vinegar with salt and pepper, shaken and used at once. It is not the sweet orange bottled dressing of later American usage.
- Ring mouldThe original gives no quantities, but a savarin or angel-food ring of roughly 1 to 1.5 quarts would suit a mousse of this kind. Oil it very lightly or rinse it with cold water so the mousse releases; dip the mould in hot water for a few seconds and invert onto a chilled platter.
- Setting timeThe original gives none. A gelatine-and-cream mousse of this size needs at least four hours refrigerated, and overnight is safer if you want clean edges when it turns out.
- CucumberPeel, seed and dice, then salt for twenty minutes and drain. Unsalted cucumber sheds water into the centre of the ring within the hour.
- Mayonnaise garnishMayonnaise used for garnishing in this period was generally stiff enough to hold a piped or spooned shape. Thin commercial mayonnaise will slide off the mousse; beat in a little extra oil, or chill it well before using.
- Serving and yieldA ring of this size would serve roughly six to eight as a luncheon course, though the original states no yield. It is a cold dish throughout, so keep it refrigerated until the moment it goes to table and do not leave it standing more than two hours.
Cold moulded mousses of this kind are associated with the American luncheon table of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, by which time granulated gelatine had become reliable and cheap enough for the domestic cook, and a moulded ring with a filled centre was a common way to make a modest amount of cooked meat look like a course. The ring or bordure arrangement derives from professional French practice, the hollow centre being filled with a garnish. Sweetbreads were a fashionable delicacy in this period and appear frequently in chafing-dish and luncheon books, creamed, larded or diced into salads. The numbering of the variations reflects the way such manuals were built: a base preparation followed by successive treatments.