Chicken Consommé

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10 to 12-quart heavy stockpot
• •Large roasting pan
• •Wide skimmer and deep ladle
• •Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
• •Muslin or four layers of cheesecloth
• •Large bowl and shallow container for rapid chilling
• •Flat wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Colour the poultry lightly

   Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Arrange the hen pieces and trimmed carcasses in a single layer in a roasting pan without oil. Roast until the exposed surfaces are pale gold, turning once, 25 to 35 minutes; remove individual pieces as they reach the right color. You are waking the poultry's aroma, not building the dark crust of a brown stock. Set the carcasses aside to cool, then refrigerate them for the clarification.

   If a thin edge turns mahogany, trim that patch away once cool. Ça se rattrape. Do not send scorched skin or blackened bones into a consommé meant to remain light amber.
2. 2

   Draw the white stock

   Put the lightly colored hen, beef shin, and 4½ quarts cold water into a 10 to 12-quart stockpot. Bring the liquid slowly toward a simmer over about 40 minutes, skimming the grey foam as it gathers; rushing this stage churns those proteins back into the stock. Once the foaming subsides, add the roughly chopped carrot, onion, leek, celery, bouquet garni, cloves, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Hold at the barest tremble for 3 to 3½ hours, uncovered, skimming fat occasionally. Never let it roll. The reduced quantity of beef gives the parent white stock its classical body, while the old hen remains the leading flavor.

3. 3

   Strain and chill

   Lift out the large solids with a skimmer, then ladle the stock through a damp fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Do not press the meat or vegetables; pressing extracts cloudy particles and tired flavors. Set the bowl into a larger bowl of ice water and stir the stock gently until cool, then refrigerate until thoroughly cold, about 45 minutes in a shallow container. Remove every firm patch of fat from the surface. The stock need not be perfectly clear yet, but it must be cold and well degreased before clarification.

4. 4

   Build the cold raft

   Clean the stockpot. In it, loosen the finely minced beef with the minced carrot, leek, celery, 3 egg whites, and 1 cup cold water. Add the chilled roast carcass pieces and mix until the whites coat everything. Pour in the cold stock and stir thoroughly, reaching across the pot floor so no meat remains packed in a corner. Cold ingredients give the egg whites time to capture fat and fine particles as they coagulate; starting warm closes that door too soon.

5. 5

   Raise the raft slowly

   Set the pot over medium-low heat and stir slowly from the bottom with a flat wooden spoon as the mixture warms. When pale curds begin gathering and the solids rise into a continuous cap, stop stirring completely. Open a 2-inch chimney near one side of the raft with the spoon handle, then keep the liquid beneath at a bare tremble for 50 to 60 minutes, ladling a little clear broth through the chimney and over the raft several times. Bubbles should appear only at the opening, never across the whole surface. If the pot boils and tears the raft apart, remove it from the heat and let it settle for 10 minutes. Ladle and filter it as directed below; if the broth remains hazy, cool it completely, whisk in the optional 2 whites with the optional ½ cup cold water, and repeat the slow heating without additional meat or carcasses. Ça se rattrape, though the second clarification will soften the flavor slightly.

   Once the raft has formed, stillness is the technique. Stirring, poking, or boiling breaks its network and releases the particles it has already caught.
6. 6

   Filter without pressure

   Line a fine sieve with damp muslin or four layers of rinsed cheesecloth and set it over a clean bowl. Push a ladle through the chimney and draw the consommé from beneath the raft, passing it through the cloth a ladleful at a time. Leave the final cloudy spoonfuls in the pot. Never tip the whole raft into the sieve and never press it; gravity gives you a limpid consommé, while pressure sends grease and fine protein straight through.

7. 7

   Set colour and seasoning

   Measure the filtered consommé. If you have more than 2 quarts, return it to a spotless pot and reduce it gently, without a rolling boil, until you reach about that volume. Draw a clean piece of absorbent kitchen paper lightly across the surface to collect any remaining beads of fat. Add the remaining salt little by little, tasting after each addition; clarification removes seasoning as well as impurities. The finished liquid should be light amber yellow, not brown, with enough body to linger on the lips but no greasy film.

8. 8

   Warm and serve

   Warm a soupière or individual soup cups with hot water, then dry them. Bring the consommé just to a quiet simmer and pour it immediately, leaving behind any sediment at the bottom of the pot. Serve it clear, without a reflex scattering of herbs, so its warm color and chicken aroma remain legible. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask a butcher or poultry farmer for a stewing hen. A young broiler will make a sweeter, thinner stock; if that is all you can find, choose the largest mature roasting chicken available and expect less gelatinous body.
• •The clarification carcasses must be lean. Ask for raw frames with the skin and loose fat removed, then have them cut while the butcher's saw is already out. Seasoned rotisserie carcasses bring salt, dark skin, and flavors the consommé never asked for.
• •Keep the roast pale. A mahogany carcass belongs in a brown stock, not here, and a dark consommé is not proof of strength. The proper reward is light amber liquid with a deep aroma.
• •Season after clarification. The raft captures some salt along with fat and protein, so a stock that tastes correct beforehand may emerge flat. Correct it at the clean finish, when every grain can be judged.
• •A damp filter absorbs less consommé than a dry one. Rinse muslin or cheesecloth under cold water, squeeze it well, and fit it loosely so the liquid can pass without pressure.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the white stock up to 3 days ahead. Cool it in an ice bath, refrigerate it promptly, and lift off the solid fat before building the clarification raft.
• •The completed consommé keeps for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat only what you need and stop at a quiet simmer so fat does not emulsify back into the clear broth.
• •For longer storage, freeze the strained, unclarified stock for up to 3 months and clarify it after thawing. This preserves more of the old hen's aroma than repeatedly reheating the finished consommé.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)