Perigordine Timbales

A layered mousseline timbale from Ranhofer's The Epicurean, built on cross-references to half a dozen other numbered recipes. The hinge is temperature: the forcemeat must stay ice-cold until the moment the molds go into their water bath, and the water bath must never boil.

• The moldsRanhofer specifies a particular timbale mold (No. 2, Fig. 137); the nearest modern equivalent is a dariole mold — a straight-sided or slightly tapered metal cup, probably in the region of a few fluid ounces. Butter them thoroughly and chill before lining, or the truffle disc may slip when you unmold.
• Chestnut puree"Very consistent" means stiff enough to roll into half-inch balls that hold their shape when cold. Unsweetened canned chestnut puree works; if you cook your own, peeled chestnuts simmered in stock and passed through a sieve, then dried out over low heat, give the right density. Sweetened marron puree is the wrong thing entirely.
• Meat glaze and half-glazeNo. 402 glaze is stock reduced to a syrup that sets firm when cold — a spoonful of commercial demi-glace or heavily reduced brown stock stands in. No. 413 half-glaze is a lighter brown sauce; No. 395 essence of truffles is an infusion made from truffle and its trimmings, for which truffle liquor from a tin, or a few drops of truffle oil used with restraint, is the practical stand-in.
• Chicken and cream forcemeatNo. 75 is a mousseline: raw breast meat pounded (a food processor does it faster), seasoned, then let down with cold heavy cream. Keep bowl, blade and meat refrigerator-cold throughout or the emulsion breaks and the timbale weeps fat.
• The tongue inlayCooked, cooled tongue, most likely brined beef, sliced thin and cut to match the half-inch hole made in the truffle; the recipe asks for a round 'exactly the same size'. The two discs want to be the same thickness as well as diameter or the inlay sits proud and the pattern blurs.
• CookingThe recipe defers to No. 959 for the cooking, so the details are the modern cook's to supply: cover each mold, stand them in a deep pan of hot water, and cook in a moderate oven with the water held below a simmer. Small molds of this kind are usually done in something like 20 to 25 minutes, when the center is firm but springy and reads at least 165F.
• UnmoldingRest five minutes, blot any water from the tops, then invert. The truffle-and-tongue medallion was set in the bottom precisely because it becomes the top of the finished timbale.
• YieldThe recipe gives no count. A cup of forcemeat and about half a cup of chestnut puree fill roughly six small molds — one apiece as a hot side dish, which is how this section of the book intends them.