Mousseline de Fruit de Mer
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 6 servings
- Total: 2 hr
- Prep: 50 min
- Cook: 1 hr 10 min
Ingredients
Filling and Garnish:
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
7 (16 to 20 count) shrimp, 6 whole, 1 finely diced
2 (1 1/4 pound) lobsters, cooked, removed from shell, elbow meat finely diced
7 sea scallops, 6 whole, 1 finely diced
1/2-ounce finely diced carrots
1/2-ounce finely diced celery
1/2-ounce finely diced leek
1-ounce vermouth
2 ounces heavy cream
1/2 to 1-ounce Buerre Manie, recipe follows
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice, for seasoning
1/4-ounce finely chopped tarragon
Fish Mousse:
2 1/2 ounces Dover sole fillet, chopped
2 1/2 ounces salmon fillet, chopped
1 egg
1 1/2 to 2 ounces heavy cream
Salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, for seasoning
Garnish:
Champagne Sauerkraut, recipe follows
1 plum tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced in 1/4 inch squares
1/2 cup vegetable pearls from carrots, cooked until tender
1/2 cup vegetable pearls from celery root, cooked until tender
1/2 cup vegetable pearls from green and yellow squash, cooked until tender
3 ounces caviar of your choice
6 quail eggs, poached
Champagne Sauce, recipe follows
12 chervil stems
Finely chopped chives
Beurre Manie:
1-ounce butter, room temperature
1-ounce flour
Champagne Sauerkraut:
1/2-ounce onions, finely diced
Butter
8 ounces sauerkraut, washed well and drained
4 ounces Champagne
4 ounces water
Bouquet garni
1/2 bay leaf
4 to 6 juniper berries
Salt, sugar and pepper, for seasoning
Champagne Sauce:
1-ounce shallots, diced
6 to 8 black peppercorns
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2-ounce vermouth
4 ounces Champagne
2 parsley stems
4 ounces fish stock or light chicken stock
2 ounces heavy cream
1 1/2 ounces butter
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and lemon juice, for seasoning
Directions
- For the filling Warm a saute pan with a small amount of olive oil. Take the diced shrimp, finely diced elbow lobster meat, and diced sea scallop, and sear lightly. Remove the remaining lobster meat from the shell and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Reserve this lobster meat and the whole shrimp and scallops in the refrigerator. Add the diced vegetables and saute for 1 minute. Deglaze with the vermouth. Bring the ingredients to boil and simmer for 1 minute. Strain, reserving the seafood and vegetables and the liquid separately. Return the liquid to the saute pan. Add the heavy cream and a small amount of beurre-manie, and bring to a boil. Add back the seafood and vegetable mixture. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and the chopped tarragon. Set aside.
- For the Fish Mousse: Put the chopped fish in a food processor and run it at high speed until the fish has a very tight consistency. Now add the egg while the machine is running and then the heavy cream. Run until the fish mousse has a shiny and bright consistency. Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper for seasoning, set in cool place.
- Butter 6 small stainless steel cups, 1 1/2-inch diameter and approximately 2 inches deep. Take a small amount of fish mousse in pastry bag with a small opening, and coat the bottom and the inner sides of the buttered cup with a thin layer of the fish mousse repeat 5 more times with the remaining cups. Now take the seafood filling and fill up almost to the very top of the cup. Take a small amount of fish mousse and cover the opening with it. Set aside.
- Assembly: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Fill a roasting pan that will fit all 6 molds in it, halfway with hot water. Place the molds in the water and place in the oven. Bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
- While timbale is baking, warm a frying pan, add a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil and quickly saute the reserved shrimp, scallops, and lobster. Place warm sauerkraut in center of warmed plates, set the seafood around it, garnish with the diced tomatoes and cooked vegetable pearls. Place the fish mousse timbales upside down in the center of the sauerkraut, remove the stainless steel cup. Garnish with caviar and quail eggs. Mix the champagne sauce and spoon it around the seafood. Finish with chervil and chopped chives. Serve immediately.
Beurre Manie:
- In a small bowl, mix together the butter and flour until they are well combined and a paste is formed.
Champagne Sauerkraut:
- Sweat the diced onions in small amount of butter without giving color. Set the sauerkraut atop and add the Champagne, water, bouquet garni, bay leaf, juniper berries and seasoning. Cook on low heat for approximately 15 minutes. Set aside in warm place.
Champagne Sauce:
- Sweat the shallots with the peppercorns in a small amount of butter in a saute pan, without giving any color to the shallots. Deglaze with the vermouth and the champagne. Add the parsley stems and reduce down to 1/3. Add the chicken or fish stock, and reduce down again to 1/3. Now add the heavy cream and mix in the butter. Simmer the sauce for 1 minute and season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Set aside in warm place.