No. 1851

Chicken Fillets or Breasts a la Primatice

Filets ou Ailes de Poulet a la Primatice

Clean and singe six two pound chickens; lift off the large fillets and detach the minions, remove the skin and epidermis from the large fillets and lay them in a buttered sautoir. Suppress the sinews from the minion fillets, also the fine skin which covers and cut six incisions at equal distances on their length; insert an oblong piece of truffle into the first incision beginning at the smallest end; an oblong of tongue into the second incision, and so on, alternating them until the entire six are filled, then twist the minions into a round-shape and place them in a buttered sautoir; use a cornet to push into the centers some forcemeat having half quenelle (No. 89) and half cream (No. 75), both well mixed together and set a round piece of truffle on top, having it an eighth of an inch thick by three-quarters of an inch in diameter, pour over melted butter, cover over with strong buttered paper and cook in a slack oven for six to eight minutes. Saute the large fillets on a quick fire, then dress them in a flat circle over croutons of bread cut the same shape, but slightly narrower. On each fillet lay one minion fillet and fill the inside of the circle with a garnishing of fillets of mushrooms an eighth of an inch wide by five-eighths of an inch long; green peas, lozenge-shaped string beans, the red part of a carrot cut in triangles, quarter of an inch squares of turnips, truffles cut olive-shaped, and semi-circular pieces of tongue, all of those being added to a little veloute (No. 415) and fresh butter. Have a half-glaze sauce (No. 413) with truffle essence (No. 395) served at the same time, but separately.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A full Ranhofer show piece: six chickens broken down for their breasts alone, each garnished with inlaid truffle and tongue. The work is in the knife, not the stove, and everything can be prepped hours ahead.

What the cuts areThe "large fillet" is the breast proper; the "minion" (filet mignon de volaille) is the tender strip lying beneath it. Six two-pound birds give twelve of each, so plan on twelve portions or six generous ones. Modern chickens run 3.5-4 lb, so the same six birds will give twelve considerably larger breasts.
Sautoir and slack ovenA sautoir is a straight-sided sauté pan. "Slack oven" means low and gentle; no temperature is given, but something in the region of 300-325F suits. The minions are thin, stuffed, and covered with buttered paper, so six to eight minutes is realistic. Take them out at 160F internal and they will carry over.
The hinge: don't overcook the large filletsSkinned breast on a quick fire means high heat and short time. Two to three minutes a side for a 1900-size fillet, longer for a modern one, and pull them at 160F. Everything else in this dish is garnish; dry breast meat sinks it.
EpidermisRanhofer means the fine translucent membrane over the breast once the skin is off; he separately calls for suppressing the sinews and the fine skin of the minions. Both shrink hard with heat and will curl the meat if left, which is why he specifies removing them.
Inlaying the minionsSix shallow slits along each strip, alternately filled with matchsticks of truffle and cooked tongue, then the strip curled into a ring. Chill the truffle and tongue firm before cutting or the pieces will not hold their shape going in.
Forcemeat and the cornetA cornet is a paper or cloth piping cone. The filling is equal parts quenelle forcemeat (No. 89) and cream forcemeat (No. 75) from elsewhere in the book; a modern equivalent is a chicken mousseline of breast meat, egg white and cream, seasoned and piped while cold.
The cross-referenced saucesVelouté (No. 415) and half-glaze (No. 413, i.e. demi-glace) are cross-references to the book's sauce chapter; the half-glaze is scented with truffle essence and passed separately. Substituting a good reduced brown chicken stock finished with butter and a little truffle keeps the intent.
Cut vegetablesThe measurements are not decorative fussiness: mushroom strips, lozenge beans, triangles of carrot, quarter-inch turnip dice, olive-turned truffle and half-moons of tongue are all sized to cook evenly and to read as separate items on the plate. Blanch each vegetable apart, then bind at the last moment with velouté and butter.
CrouťonsCroutons -- Bread croutons cut to the footprint of each fillet but slightly smaller; the recipe does not say how they are cooked. They lift the meat clear of the garnish so it does not sit in sauce.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York and published The Epicurean in 1894, a 1,200-page catalogue of the restaurant's repertoire arranged, as here, in long numbered runs of variations on a single cut. Dishes "à la Primatice" are generally traced to Francesco Primaticcio, the sixteenth-century Bolognese painter who worked at Fontainebleau for Francis I; whatever the origin of the name, the inlaid strips of black truffle and red tongue here are essentially marquetry in meat. The recipe also shows the scale of a Gilded Age restaurant kitchen: twelve breasts are lifted from six birds, an economy no domestic cook of the period could match.