No. 2212

Border of Risot Valenciennes

Bordure de Risot Valenciennes

Blanch and cook six beef palates in a good mirepoix stock (No. 419), drain and leave them to cool under a weight, pare and cut up into large Julienne; lay these in a sautoir with three gills of Madeira sauce, simmer on a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, and when very tender add half the quantity of freshly cooked truffles cut like the fillets. Have a good risot prepared with about a half pound of Piedmontese rice (No. 739); as soon as done remove and mix in one spoonful of sweet Spanish pepper reduced to a pulp; cover the saucepan and keep it for five to six minutes on the side of the range and then finish with butter and grated parmesan; season to taste. With this rice fill a buttered border mold, as shown in the cut, place it for a few moments in the heater to harden, then unmold it on a dish and fill the center with beef palate preparation; serve at once.

← No. 2211 Border of Fish Forcemeat a la Duchess with C Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2213 Border of Risot of Lobsters or Spiny Lobster →

For the Modern Kitchen

A ring of risotto molded and turned out, filled with braised beef palate in Madeira sauce. The rice is the easy half; the filling requires either a sympathetic butcher or a substitution.

Beef palatesThe hard palate of the ox, once a common cheap offal cut. It is still available from some halal and Latin American butchers, sometimes labeled paladar, but generally must be ordered. Beef tongue, braised and cut in julienne, is the closest substitute in texture and flavor.
Blanching is not optionalPalates carry a tough outer skin that is loosened by blanching in boiling water, then scraped off before the long braise. Left on, it tends to stay tough however long the meat simmers.
GillsA gill is half a cup, so three gills of Madeira sauce is a cup and a half. Escoffier-era Madeira sauce is a brown sauce reduced with Madeira; a good demi-glace finished with dry Madeira serves.
Piedmontese riceCarnaroli or Arborio. Half a pound is about a cup and a quarter dry, which will make roughly four cups cooked risotto "e2"80"94 enough for a border mold serving four to six.
Sweet Spanish pepperRoasted, skinned red peppers or canned pimientos, pushed through a sieve to a smooth pulp. "One spoonful" here means a tablespoon or so; add it off the heat and taste, as pimiento purée can go slightly sweet and metallic in quantity.
The risotto must be stiff, not looseThis is the hinge. A risotto cooked all'onda will slump the moment it leaves the mold. Cook it drier than you would for a plated risotto, finish with butter and parmesan, and let it rest covered so the starch sets.
"The heater"A warming closet or plate oven. A low oven for a few minutes firms the border without drying it; do not let it brown at the edges.
UnmoldingButter the ring mold generously and pack the rice in firmly with the back of a spoon to avoid air pockets. Invert onto a warmed platter and lift the mold straight up. A silicone or nonstick savarin ring is more forgiving than a metal mold.

A Little History

Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially the house repertory written down "e2"80"94 which is why it contains dozens of "borders," molded rings of rice, forcemeat or potato used to frame a ragout on a platter. The style belongs to the grand nineteenth-century restaurant, where a dish arrived architecturally composed on its platter. "Risot" is Ranhofer's spelling of risotto, and the Valenciennes label is often said to attach in period French cookery to rice dishes tinted and flavored with sweet pepper or tomato, borrowing loosely from Spanish rice cookery rather than from the French city "e2"80"94 though that derivation is traditional rather than documented. The beef palate filling is the more telling detail: an organ cut that a modern American cook would have to hunt for was, in the 1890s, cheap enough to be a thrifty foil to truffles and Madeira on the same plate.