No. 904

Crusts d'Henin, Morton, Chamberlain, or a la Genoise

Croutes a la d'Henin, a la Morton, a la Chamberlain, ou a la Genoise

If cut round shaped a la d'Henin they are two and one-quarter inches across; if oval shaped a la Morton, two inches by three; if oblongs, Chamberlain,two and three-quarters inches by one and three-quarters inches; if lozenge shape a la Genoise, four inches by two and one-quarter inches all of these to be cut half an inch in thickness.

For Round Shaped a la d'Henin.—Made with foies-gras; mark an incision all around the crusts a quarter of an inch from the edge, fry them in butter, and empty out the insides to fill in with a cream forcemeat (No. 75), poach for a few minutes. Mince some foies-gras, garnish the crusts with this, and cover with a Toulouse garnishing (No. 766), lay over a chicken and cream forcemeat (No. 75), bestrew over some chopped truffles and besprinkle with clarified butter; poach them in the oven without browning for twenty minutes, and serve on napkins without any sauce whatever.

Oval Crusts a la Morton.—Fill the insides with a chicken quenelle forcemeat (No. 89), poach them in the oven, and garnish with slices of truffles, slices of hard boiled eggs, and slices of mushrooms. Cover with a bechamel sauce (No. 409) to which some chopped chives have been added, dredge bread crumbs and grated parmesan on top, and set them in a slow oven for twenty minutes before serving.

Oblong Crusts a la Chamberlain.—Fill the insides with a godiveau forcemeat (No. 82), poach them, then mince some raw chicken or game fillets, saute them in butter over a brisk fire, add some veloute (No. 415), truffles and mushrooms; cover the crusts with this, bestrew the tops with grated cheese and bread-crumbs, pour over some butter, and place them for twenty minutes in the oven, and serve hot on folded napkins.

Lozenge-shaped Crusts a la Genoise.—Fill the insides with a pike quenelle forcemeat (No. 90); lay over some oysters and slices of lobsters or crabs, saute a few mushrooms in butter, seasoning with salt and pepper, moisten with cream, and let boil for a few seconds, then add a little bechamel sauce (No. 409), and with this cover the whole; besprinkle with bread-crumbs and parmesan, and brown the crusts in the oven.

← No. 903 Crusts of Clams a la Schenk Hot Side Dishes No. 905 Crusts with Foies-Gras →

For the Modern Kitchen

Four variations on the same idea: a thick slice of bread hollowed into a case, fried, filled with forcemeat and a garnish, and finished in the oven. The dimensions matter less than the method, and the method has one weak point — the bread.

What a croûte actually isCut half-inch slices from a firm, close-crumbed white loaf a day or two old; fresh bread tears and soaks. Score a border a quarter inch inside the edge, fry the slices in clarified butter until pale gold on both sides, then lift out the inner lid and scoop the soft crumb to leave a shallow case with a floor.
Oven temperaturesThe book gives none. "Poach in the oven without browning" calls for gentle heat, something like 300F in a modern oven, with the dish loosely covered or a pan of water alongside so the forcemeat sets without colouring; Ranhofer's "slow oven" for the Morton crusts is much the same. The Genoise crusts are the only ones he explicitly tells you to brown, and a short spell at high heat or a moment under the broiler will do that.
The cross-referenced forcemeatsNo. 75 is Ranhofer's cream forcemeat, No. 89 a chicken quenelle forcemeat, No. 90 the same made with pike, No. 82 godiveau — veal pounded with beef suet and ice. Any smooth mousseline-style farce of pounded raw poultry or fish with egg white and cream stands in.
Toulouse garnishNo. 766 is cockscombs and cock kidneys with quenelles, mushrooms and truffles bound in a pale velouté. Cockscombs are not obtainable in most places now; small poached quenelles, button mushrooms and truffle in velouté carry the sense of it.
The oysters in the Genoise versionLay them in raw and let the oven do the work, or barely warm them in their own liquor first; oysters given a long spell in the oven shrink to erasers. The crab and lobster should likewise be already cooked and only heated through.
Foies-grasHere it means cooked whole-lobe foie gras or a good pâté, minced, not the raw liver. Add it to the crusts near the end of the poaching if you can — held at oven heat for twenty minutes it renders out and greases the bread.
Béchamel and veloutéBoth should be reduced thick enough to sit on the filling without running off. A sauce at pouring consistency will soak the crust from above while the forcemeat wets it from within.
Yield and serviceOne crust per person as a hot side dish, two if it is standing in as a light main. The "folded napkins" are a serving convention of the period, and a linen napkin on the platter will absorb butter leaking from the fried bases. Ranhofer directs that the d'Henin version be served without any sauce whatever.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows how the house economised its invention: one technique, four shapes, four names, four garnishes. Hollowed fried bread cases — croûtes, kin to the vol-au-vent and the bouchée — were a standard vehicle for hot side dishes in nineteenth-century service, sturdy enough to be filled in advance and finished as the course was called. The names follow the usual restaurant practice of honouring patrons and public figures; Levi P. Morton, Vice-President under Harrison, is a plausible candidate, though Ranhofer never explains his dedications. À la Genoise, Genoa style, is the one name that describes the food rather than a person; in French kitchen usage it was associated with fish and shellfish treatments, which fits the lozenges getting pike forcemeat, oysters and lobster while the other three get poultry and game.