Northern pike quenelles with crawfish Nantua sauce and fresh dill

Ingredients

• 650 g skinless fresh northern pike fillet, carefully pin-boned
• 240 g cooked shelled crawfish tails
• 300 g crawfish shells or heads
• 350 g heavy cream (or crème fraîche)
• 220 ml whole milk
• 95 g unsalted butter
• 85 g all-purpose flour
• 3 pieces fresh eggs
• 2 pieces shallots
• 1 piece carrot
• 1 piece red bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 250 ml ready-to-use thickened brown stock base
• 1.5 l low-sodium vegetable stock
• 120 ml dry Loire white wine
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 0.5 bunches fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 piece organic lemon
• to taste fine salt
• to taste whole black peppercorns

Method

1. Check the pike fillets with your fingers over a chilled cutting board. Remove any remaining pin bones with culinary tweezers, then chill the fish in the refrigerator at 4 °C for at least 20 minutes to ensure a fine, light mousseline rather than a rubbery paste.
2. Make the panade: heat the milk with a portion of the butter over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the butter melts and the liquid reaches about 80 °C without boiling. Add the flour all at once, stir vigorously with a spatula, then dry out over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the dough forms a smooth ball that pulls away cleanly from the sides and leaves a thin white film on the bottom of the pan.
3. Transfer the panade to a bowl and let it cool off the heat for 15 minutes, until its temperature drops below 35 °C so it will not cook the raw fish during blending.
4. Pulse the chilled pike in a food processor with salt and pepper for 1 minute until smooth and glossy. Blend in the cooled panade, then incorporate the eggs one at a time, pulsing for 30 seconds after each addition. Finally, stream in a portion of the cold heavy cream and blend for another 30 seconds until the mousseline is satiny, dense, and holds its shape firmly on a spatula.
5. Test the mousseline: poach a small spoonful of the mixture in gently simmering stock at 85 °C for 2 minutes. Taste to check the seasoning and texture, adjusting with a splash of cream if needed.
6. Cover the mousseline with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface and chill at 4 °C for 45 minutes to firm up for easier shaping.
7. While the mixture rests, prepare the Nantua sauce base: heat the olive oil and a small knob of butter over high heat in a saute pan to about 160 °C. Add the crushed crawfish shells, diced carrot, sliced shallots, crushed garlic, and diced red bell pepper. Saute and brown for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the aromatics take on good color and release a deep roasted shellfish aroma.
8. Add the tomato paste, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Toast over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste darkens to a deep brick red.
9. Deglaze with the dry white wine. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and simmer over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until reduced to a syrupy glaze of about 2 tablespoons with no harsh alcohol steam.
10. Pour in the thickened brown stock base and a splash of vegetable stock. Simmer gently over medium-low heat for 20 minutes to extract all the aromatic flavors, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly on the shells.
11. Pour the strained base into a clean saucepan with the remaining cream. Simmer gently over low heat at 85 °C for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon with a velvety texture.
12. Bring the remaining vegetable stock to a gentle simmer between 85 °C and 90 °C in a wide, shallow pan, never letting it reach a rolling boil to prevent the quenelles from breaking apart.
13. Shape the quenelles using two large wet tablespoons. Slide them gently into the simmering stock and poach for 12 to 14 minutes at 85 °C, turning them over carefully halfway through (around 6 minutes): they should puff by about a third and feel springy to the touch yet tender at the center.
14. Drain the quenelles on paper towels for 1 minute, then transfer them to a baking dish. Spoon a ladle of Nantua sauce over the top and broil under a preheated broiler at 220 °C for 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce is lightly gratinéed and bubbling around the edges.
15. Warm the cooked crawfish tails in the remaining Nantua sauce over very low heat for 3 minutes at 60 °C, just enough to heat them through without overcooking or toughening them.
16. Serve immediately in warm shallow bowls: place the broiled quenelles in the center, spoon over plenty of piping-hot sauce, arrange the crawfish tails on top, and finish with chopped fresh dill, flat-leaf parsley, freshly ground black pepper, and finely grated lemon zest.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

954.3 kcal

Protein

58.83 g

Carbohydrate

32.24 g

Fat

63.22 g

Fibre

5.39 g

Calcium

155.23 mg

Iron

1.41 mg

Magnesium

39.97 mg