No. 2037

Turkey—Breasts or Fillets—a la Donovan

Ailes ou Filets de Dinde a la Donovan

Raise the fillets or breasts from two turkeys, retaining the upper skin; fry them in butter and moisten with a little mirepoix stock (No. 419), then allow it to fall to a glaze; moisten once more and cook very slowly, barely moistened, so that when done the liquid is reduced to a mere glaze. Range the fillets in the center of a dish on a rice socle and garnish around with clusters of quenelles molded with a coffeespoon (No. 155), mushroom heads and small croustades filled with Montglas (No. 747). A half-glaze sauce (No. 413) with Madeira sauce to be served separately.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with a stockpot always going and a numbered cross-reference for every component. Stripped back, this is braised turkey breast glazed in its own reduced stock, plated with garnishes.

The hinge: glaze, don't stewThe whole method is repeated reduction — moisten barely, let the liquid fall to a sticky glaze, moisten again. Keep the liquid shallow and baste the fillets with it as it thickens so the skin takes on a lacquer.
Mirepoix stock (No. 419)In The Epicurean this is a rich stock cooked with diced carrot, onion, celery, ham or bacon and herbs, moistened with Madeira. A good brown chicken or turkey stock reduced with a mirepoix and a splash of Madeira gets you to the same place.
Fillets from two turkeysRanhofer wants four breast halves, skin on, for a banquet platter — figure eight to twelve servings. Two skin-on turkey breast halves, about 2 lb each, serve six and behave identically.
Cooking temperature and doneness"Very slowly" is Ranhofer's only instruction; he gives no vessel or temperature. A bare simmer on the stove or a low oven, covered, will do it. Turkey breast is done at 165F internal; past that the glaze will look right while the meat has gone dry and stringy.
Quenelles molded with a coffeespoonA coffeespoon here is a small spoon — somewhere between a demitasse spoon and a modern teaspoon — so these are little forcemeat dumplings roughly the size of an olive, shaped between two spoons and poached in barely trembling salted stock until they float and firm.
MontglasA salpicon of foie gras, pickled tongue, truffle and mushroom bound with reduced Madeira sauce, used here to fill small pastry cases. Any well-bound, finely diced savory filling serves the same structural purpose in the croustades.
The rice socleA socle is a molded pedestal — here compressed cooked rice — built to raise the meat above the garnish on the platter. It was for looks, not eating. A shallow bed of rice pilaf gives the same silhouette and is worth serving.
The saucesHalf-glaze is demi-glace; Madeira sauce is demi-glace finished with Madeira. One good demi-glace, half of it fortified with Madeira off the heat, covers both boats without duplicating a day's work.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and it reads as an internal reference rather than a home cookbook — hence the numbered cross-references that send you to a stock, a forcemeat and a garnish in three other parts of the volume. Dishes named for individuals are scattered throughout the book, generally understood to commemorate patrons, colleagues or occasions at the restaurant; Ranhofer rarely explains who they were, and Donovan is one of the unexplained. The construction is thoroughly classical French: a glazed white meat raised on a socle, ringed with quenelles, mushrooms and filled croustades, with the sauces passed separately so the presentation stays intact until it reaches the table. Turkey held a respectable place on such menus, treated here exactly as a chef of the period would treat pheasant or capon — broken down into its parts, with breast, legs and wings each getting their own numbered preparation.