No. 2360

Souffle of Chicken a la Delsart

Souffle de Poulet a la Delsart

Pound half a pound of the white meat of a cooked chicken with two ounces of butter, two spoonfuls of bechamel (No. 409), and two raw egg-yolks; season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stiffen some buttered or oiled paper cases in the oven, and ten minutes before serving incorporate into the preparation two egg-whites beaten to a stiff froth, and two tablespoonfuls of well-drained, whipped cream; fill the cases, prepared as for souffle of chicken (No. 2359), and place them in a moderately heated oven for ten to twelve minutes, then glaze them over with a brush.

← No. 2359 Souffle of Chicken Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2361 Souffle of Fat Livers with Truffles →

For the Modern Kitchen

A small hot soufflé built on a pounded chicken and béchamel base, baked in individual paper cases. The whole thing hinges on timing: the whites and cream go in ten minutes before the cases go into the oven, and the soufflés are served the moment they come out.

The poundingRanhofer means a mortar and pestle worked until the meat is a smooth paste; the recipe itself says nothing about sieving, though pounded forcemeats were often passed through a sieve at this period. A food processor does the job in under a minute; pulse the cold cooked breast with the butter first, then work in the bechamel and yolks.
Béchamel No. 409Bechamel No. 409 -- a thick white sauce built on a white roux, reduced and strained; the exact moistening is set out at that number rather than here. Any well-reduced, well-seasoned bechamel of coating consistency works, and it is easier to work into the butter-and-meat paste when cool rather than hot.
"Two spoonfuls"Ranhofer uses "spoonful" loosely and it is genuinely ambiguous here; read it as a tablespoon, roughly 2 tablespoons of béchamel in total. The mixture should be a stiff, pipeable paste, not a batter.
Paper casesSmall pleated paper or foil soufflé cases, brushed with butter and dried out in the oven so they hold their shape. Modern parchment cases or 4 oz ramekins do the same job; the pre-baking step is only needed for paper.
Oven temperature"moderately heated" is best read as a moderate oven, somewhere around 350-375F in modern terms; the book gives no figure. Ten to twelve minutes suits cases of this size, and no longer -- the souffle is meant to be barely set and served immediately.
Whipped cream"well-drained" means cream freed of excess liquid, drained in a sieve, so the foam is firmer and drier. Whip to soft-medium peaks and fold it in with the whites in one movement, in two additions.
The glazeThe recipe says only to brush them over; the likeliest readings are melted glace de viande or butter, coloured briefly under a very hot top heat. A brief pass under a hot broiler gives the same look, but watch it -- the souffle will sink if it sits.
YieldThe recipe gives no number. Half a pound of breast meat with the butter, bechamel, whites and cream makes only a small quantity, enough for a handful of small cases served as one course among several.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the miscellaneous entrees section is where the small, showy, a la minute dishes cluster -- the things a brigade could turn out fast between heavier courses. Ranhofer attached patrons, performers, public figures and colleagues to his dishes throughout the book, and most of these dedications are now untraceable; who or what "a la Delsart" refers to is not recorded. The dish itself is a hot souffle in the classical French sense: a pounded forcemeat lightened with beaten whites, a technique the nineteenth century applied to chicken, game, fish and foie gras alike, and here portioned into individual paper cases.