Classic French Consommé
User Reviews
5
Classic French Consommé
Description
The Classic French Consommé recipe begins with making a raft from finely chopped lean meat, vegetables, egg whites, rosemary, and bay leaves. This mixture helps clarify the rich duck broth by trapping particles as it gently simmers, maintaining clarity and enhancing flavor. The broth and raft are heated slowly to form a floating cap that is carefully monitored to ensure it never boils, protecting the delicate structure. After over an hour of simmering, the broth is strained through fine mesh and paper to remove remaining solids, yielding a crystal-clear soup with concentrated taste.
This consommé exemplifies classical French technique, where attention to detail and patience produce an elegant, refined broth. It works well served plain or with delicate garnishes and can be a base for other soups.
Practical tips include starting with quality stock (duck broth recommended), matching raft meat to broth type, and gentle simmering to prevent raft breakage. Leftover raft is safe for animal feed. This consommé can be frozen or pressure canned to preserve it.
Ingredients
- 5 quarts duck broth (or other broth, see above)
- 1 onion chopped, large
- 2 carrot chopped, large
- 2 celery chopped, large stalks
- 2 pounds lean meat cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 ounce dried mushrooms any kind, soaked and chopped
- 10 egg white
- rosemary chopped, 2-inch piece, fresh
- 4 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 12 ounces tomato puree
Instructions
- Make the raft by running the onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms and lean meat through a meat grinder, or by pulsing in a food processor until you have a rough mash. Don't puree it. Mix in the egg whites, rosemary, and bay leaves and chill for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
- Pour the cold duck broth into a stockpot and add the salt.
- Mix the tomato puree with the raft and add to the stock. Turn heat to medium and bring slowly to a simmer. Do not let it boil under any circumstances or you will ruin your consommé. Stir every couple of minutes until the raft begins to float on the surface. This takes a while, like 45 minutes.
- When the raft has formed, poke a 1-inch hole in its center and let the consommé simmer gently for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the hole and clear it if it gets clogged with debris.
- Put a fine-meshed sieve over a container large enough to hold the consommé and line the sieve with a paper towel. Turn the heat to low on the consommé and ladle the soup through the sieve into the container. When you get to the bottom of the stockpot, pick out the raft and discard, then pour the remaining consommé through the sieve.
- Chill the consommé or serve immediately. Add salt to taste before serving.
Notes
- Use a quality duck broth or similar stock as the base for best flavor.
- Match raft meat to the type of stock to maintain flavor harmony.
- Control heat carefully to prevent boiling and raft breakage.
- Leftover raft can be fed to animals safely.
- Consommé freezes well and can be pressure canned following safe guidelines.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 16servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 182 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 182kcal | 9% |
| Carbohydrates | 5g | 2% |
| Protein | 26g | 52% |
| Fat | 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 68mg | 23% |
| Sodium | 1521mg | 63% |
| Potassium | 1061mg | 23% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 2g | 4% |
| Vitamin A | 1382IU | 28% |
| Vitamin C | 4mg | 4% |
| Calcium | 20mg | 2% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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