Quenelles

[Red Owl]

I tried some for the first time. 1 cup water, 3 tb butter. salt- bring to boil. Dump in one cup flour and stir.  Problem number one, there was so much flour that it could be moved around but not really stirred. "Cooked" 5 minutes.  Then removed from heat and let cool, then add one egg at a time, total 3 eggs. Did that, then add 1/2 pound mashed up pike, or white fish. Did that. The result was a very sticky dough. I formed into ovals or footballs with two table spoons. Chilled in refrigerator 2 hours, poached 15 minutes in 170 degree water. After about 3=4 minutes they floated to top. Put in casserole dish, added a cup of heavy cream, light sprinkle of all spice, shredded swiss on top- 3 slices. Baked 325 for 20 minutes. Uncovered.

They were okay but didn't puff up double in size. So, rather heavy "dumplings".   Next time I'm thinking only a half cup of flour and milk instead of water and maybe a 4th egg or additional egg white. And bake covered. I have seen one You Tube where the quenelles are not chilled in a refrigerator, they have a softer, almost batter consistency and the formed quenelle is smooth and immediately submerged into hot water until the quenelle separates from the spoon.  Any suggestions on how to "puff" the quenelles appreciated.  I've never had them in a restaurant so I don't know what consistency they should have. Are they like a regular dumpling, that is, light and fluffy?

[weinoo]

The best quenelles I've ever had were at Daniel Rose's Le Coucou. (Though maybe I had them at one of his restaurants in Paris, as well).

 

Maybe this will help.  (Also, dumping a lot of flour into water, or water into flour, as opposed to mixing it in gently, is certain to give you aggravation).

 

https://tastecooking.com/long-live-quenelles/

[weinoo]

Now that I think about it, you're not really making a quenelle with all that flour; you're really making a dumpling.

[Mjx]

@Red Owl The recipe sounds as though it's not well-designed, it reads more like a pâte à choux recipe than one for a light quenelle.

[Red Owl]

Well, that's why I asked the question. I am going to make attempt number two tomorrow.  I've seen a few recipes on the net where there is very little flour.  So...I am thinking here:  the poaching, I think that is to set the shape of the quenelle and not much more, then the baking (with egg, egg white) puffs up the quenelle similar to quiche or an éclair.

What I'll try:  puree the fish and mix in 3 whole eggs.  Add one cup of milk, salt, pepper.  If the mix is too thin, add just a teaspoon of flour at a time until a quenelle shape can be made and dropped right away into 170 degree water to set.  As soon as it floats, remove to a casserole dish, add the sauce, and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. You don't cover quiche or eclairs and they puff so I wouldn't cover the quenelles as they bake.

SINCE I never have had any in a restaurant, that's why I wanted to know if they were supposed to be heavy and solid or light such as quiche or a soufflé.  What I made, with so much flour, the fish taste wasn't that much.  Well I'll report on how my next effort goes.

WHY AM I DOING THIS?    I like to fish and a lot of fish have those little Y bones. You can fillet them out but you are left with small sections of fish.  I needed a way to cook these and when I found out about quenelles I thought that may work out well. 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Here is a clip from 'Mind of a Chef' featuring Andre Soltner preparing his quenelles. How they are made and what to expect.

 

 

 

 

[weinoo]

Andre is awesome; interesting that he makes the panade, whereas Daniel (who learned from Bocuse, doesn't).

 

A little deeper dive into the cookbook collection gives some insight (this is Bocuse (eG-friendly Amazon.com link))...

 

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

It's gefilte fish, only haute.  Sans gelee. Having made gefilte fish only once, using Northern Pike, I speak from experience: his little dumplings are far easier.

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@weinoo

Interesting. What I've made in the past is what Bocuse calls fine quenelles or moussellines and I've done them with shrimp or lobster (pike is something caught fishing and eaten as a shore lunch).

I dug out my copy of 'The Lutece Cookbook' and Soltner's recipe for the panade, for a 1 lb. amount of pike, is less than one fifth, in proportion, to that used by Bocuse. The proportions for other ingredients are more aligned so the major difference between the two is the amount of panade in the Bocuse recipe. 

Below is the panade for 1 lb. of fish. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[Red Owl]

Yes, I must admit a shore lunch is very good and if the fillets are large enough, that would be my go to choice.   I really got focused on the Quenelles as something to do with smaller fish.  That post on the amount of eggg must vary with the species of fish is helpful, so an art rather than a science.  A salmon fishing trip around Cape Breton, etc. is on my bucket list.

[Red Owl]

Okay- I promised to post the results. I cut the flour in half, so, brought 1 cup of milk, 3 TB butter, salt, pepper, dash all spice to a boil and put in a half cup flour.  This brought about more of a heavy batter than a ball of dough. Stirred/cooked about 2-3 minutes. Then, leaving it in the pot- put pot into a bowl of water to cool. Then 2 eggs, one at a time, beat in smooth, then 1/2 pound of fish. Mea Culpa- I am hung up on eating undercooked fish so the fish was poached 20 minutes and then mashed up with a fork. Okay, so fish into batter, then the refrigerator (covered pot with plastic wrap- for 3 hours).  This did not stiffen up the consistency and in the future I'd skip it.  Brought large pot to a boil and took off burner and spooned Quenelle shaped dough balls into water. They sink and as they cook they will float. Did 5 at a time and needed 2 batches, the batter made 10 tablespoon sized quenelles.  Used 2 baking casserole dishes, 5 per dish, covered half way with heavy  cream, One slice of swiss cheese on each dish, cut into strips, a dash of parmigiana on top.  25 minutes in a 375 degree preheated oven.

Well, they puffed up, big improvement over the first effort.  They were a lot better. Am I now a big fan of quenelles?  So-so. They are good, a good thing to do with little bits and pieces of fish that don't lend themselves to other recipes.  The above yields enough for two hungry people or 3 normal portions.  It is one of those recipes that makes a small amount of fish go a long way. If I ever get to Lyons, France I'll have some just to know how they should taste.

[Red Owl]

Final Follow up.  I don't know if anyone is interested but on the second casserole dish, it was overnight in the frig.  I bought some crawfish and made a sauce and put that over the refrig'd dish and baked 15 minute. Came out very good. The lobster (crawfish) sauce is a definite plus.  In any event you can keep cooked quenelles in the refrig a day or day and they are fine.

[weinoo]

Gotta have that sauce nantua!

[KennethT]

17 hours ago, weinoo said:

Gotta have that sauce nantua!

It's the only reason to eat the quenelle! I think La Cote Basque did them in a nantua sauce. They were fantastic back in the day.

[Red Owl]

I agree.  If I have a nice boneless filet, I would never cut it up for a quenelle.  I think the quenelle got started as a way to use those species of fish with a lot of small bones that are difficult to filet out.  As such, it is a good option.  I myslf l9ke to sport fish and sometimes end up with small fish or those with bones and I could never quite figure out what to do with them.  Hence my interest in making quenelles.  I'm glad I did it, an interesting venture.