Quenelle de brochet

Cook it at home: Pike quenelles with Nantua sauce

A home quenelle starts with a choux-like panade beaten with fish and butter, chilled hard, then poached and baked in the sauce until it puffs. Pike is traditional; any lean white fish works.

Pans and tools

• Small saucepan and wooden spoon
• Food processor
• Two large spoons for shaping
• Wide pan for poaching
• Gratin dish
• Fine-mesh strainer

You’ll need

• For the panade: 1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk, 3 tbsp (40 g) butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup (65 g) flour, 2 eggs
• 12 oz (340 g) skinless pike fillet, or lean white fish such as cod, hake or whiting, boned and very cold
• 6 tbsp (85 g) soft butter
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp salt, a pinch of white pepper and a grating of nutmeg
• For the Nantua sauce: 1 lb (450 g) whole raw crayfish or 12 oz (340 g) shell-on shrimp
• 3 tbsp butter, 1 shallot and 1 small carrot chopped, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 3 tbsp Cognac
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) dry white wine and 2 cups (480 ml) fish stock
• 2 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp butter (a roux), 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, a pinch of cayenne, salt

Steps

1. Make the panade: bring the milk, butter and salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir hard over low heat for 1 minute, until it forms a ball that leaves the sides of the pan. Off the heat, beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth. Cool completely.
2. Cut the fish into chunks and pulse in a food processor until very smooth. Add the cold panade, the soft butter, egg whites, salt, pepper and nutmeg and process until smooth and shiny, 1 minute. Press through a sieve for a finer quenelle (optional).
3. Chill the mixture at least 2 hours, or overnight; it must be cold and firm.
4. Make the sauce: sauté the crayfish or shrimp in the butter over high heat for 3 minutes until red. Remove the tail meat (keep for garnish) and put the shells back. Add the shallot and carrot and cook 3 minutes, then the tomato paste for 1 minute.
5. Pour in the Cognac and light it carefully, or let it bubble off. Add the wine and stock and simmer 20 minutes. Strain, pressing hard on the shells. You should have about 1 1/2 cups.
6. In a clean pan, cook the flour in the butter 1 minute, whisk in the strained stock and the cream and simmer 10 minutes until it coats a spoon. Season with cayenne and salt.
7. Bring a wide pan of salted water to a bare simmer. Shape the mixture with two large wet spoons into 8 long oval quenelles, sliding each into the water. Poach 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until they swell and feel firm. Lift onto a towel.
8. Heat the oven to 375F (190C). Butter a gratin dish, set the quenelles in it with space between them, scatter the crayfish tails and pour over the sauce.
9. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until the quenelles have puffed to almost double and the sauce is bubbling and golden. Serve straight from the dish, with rice or bread.

Contains: Fish, shellfish, wheat, milk, egg.