No. 1995

Pullet with Ravioles

Poularde aux Ravioles

Draw a fine pullet, singe and clean it well, truss it for an entree, (No. 178), and cover over with slices of fat pork. Butter the bottom of a braziere (Fig. 134), lay over some sliced onions and carrots, a bunch of parsley garnished with thyme and bay leaf, a clove of garlic and two cloves. Moisten with stock (No. 194a) to three-quarters its height, then boil, skim and cook slowly for one hour and a half to two hours; drain off the stock, free it of fat and return this to the braziere to keep the pullet warm. Reduce the stock with veloute (No. 415) if for white, or espagnole (No. 414) if for brown. Dress the pullet on a layer of ravioles (No. 2976) mingled with some veloute or espagnole and parmesan cheese, and serve a separate sauce-boat of the sauce with cooked fine herbs (No. 385) and chopped parsley added.

← No. 1994 Pullet with Mussels or Oysters Capon & Pullet No. 1996 Pullet Garnished with Water-Cress—Roasted →

For the Modern Kitchen

A braised bird finished on a bed of ravioli, written for a professional kitchen that had a velouté and an espagnole standing ready. The cross-references are to other numbered recipes in Ranhofer's book, so the whole thing has to be reassembled from parts.

What a pullet isA young hen, under a year old; Ranhofer's poularde is a fattened one, and the long braise suggests a bird at the larger end rather than a small 3 lb roaster. A supermarket roasting chicken behaves the same way; skip anything labelled stewing hen, which is an old bird and needs far longer.
The braziereA braising pan: a heavy, lidded vessel not much larger than the bird. A Dutch oven or a covered casserole is the modern equivalent. The point of matching the size is that stock reaching three-quarters up the bird should not take gallons.
Fat porkSheets of cured pork fatback or fresh unsmoked barding fat, tied over the breast to keep it from drying. Thin-sliced pancetta or streaky unsmoked bacon does the job, though bacon adds smoke the original did not intend.
Cooking timeAn hour and a half to two hours is long for a 3 to 4 lb bird by current practice; on a bare simmer expect the thigh to reach 165F/74C in about an hour to an hour and a quarter. Cook to temperature rather than to the clock, since the breast is only partly submerged and overshoots easily.
Keep it barely trembling"Boil, skim and cook slowly" means bring to a boil once, pull off the scum, then hold at a bare shiver. A rolling boil at any point shreds the breast and clouds the braising liquid you are about to turn into sauce.
White or brownVelouté is a light stock thickened with a pale roux; espagnole is the dark brown mother sauce built on browned bones and tomato. Reducing the strained braising liquid and mounting it with either one gives you the finished sauce. A reduced, strained braising liquid thickened with a little beurre manié is a reasonable stand-in for either.
The ravioliNo. 2976 is Ranhofer's own ravioles recipe, which has to be looked up separately; a good fresh cheese or spinach ravioli substitutes for it. Dress them in sauce and parmesan just before the bird goes on top, or they absorb the sauce and turn pasty.
Fines herbesNo. 385 is a cooked herb preparation of the period, mushroom and shallot sweated in butter with chopped parsley. A tablespoon of finely chopped soft herbs softened in butter carries the same idea.
YieldA bird this size serves four generously, more with the pasta counted in. Ranhofer's presentation is the trussed bird set whole on the bed of ravioles, with the sauce passed separately.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York, in two spells with a break between them, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially the working repertoire of that restaurant set down in some 3,500 numbered recipes, each leaning on the others. This dish sits in a long run of pullet and capon preparations distinguished only by their garnish, which is how the classical French system worked: one carefully braised bird, then dozens of finished plates depending on what surrounded it. The ravioli are worth noticing. Ranhofer gives them the French spelling ravioles, and their appearance under a braised fowl in an haute-cuisine book of the 1890s reflects the long presence of Italian pasta in French professional cooking, well before Italian food was widely eaten in American homes. The sauce, too, is sent to the table separately in a sauce-boat rather than poured over the bird.