Consommé Castellane

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-to-8-quart stockpot
• •Heavy saucepan for the fumet
• •Ovenproof skillet
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Muslin or rinsed paper coffee filters
• •Blender or small food processor
• •Four 4-ounce straight-sided ramekins
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Small 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) round cutter
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the woodcock

   Ask the game dealer to leave the carcasses and trimmings with you. At home, inspect every piece carefully for shot, then remove the breasts and legs if this has not already been done. Chop the carcasses into several pieces so their cut surfaces can brown, pat all the meat dry, and keep the breasts and legs cold while you begin the fumet.

   Woodcock is the identity of Castellane, not a decorative flourish. Buy it through a licensed game dealer and inspect wild birds carefully, especially around the breast and shoulder.
2. 2

   Build the fumet

   Melt 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped carcasses and trimmings, then brown them patiently until every exposed surface is deep bronze, never black. Add the shallot and mushrooms and cook until their moisture disappears and the pan floor begins to glaze. Pour in the Madeira, scrape up the fond, and reduce until only a syrupy spoonful remains. Add 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) of the game stock and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, pressing only lightly, then reduce the liquid to 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g). Taste it. It should announce woodcock at once; if it seems weak, reduce it further, and if it becomes too forceful or salty, loosen it with a little of the measured stock. This fumet is the dish.

3. 3

   Roast the meat

   Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Melt 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter in an ovenproof skillet and brown the breasts and legs, skin-side down first, without crowding. Turn them, transfer the skillet to the oven, and cook until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C), removing the smaller breasts before the legs if necessary. Rest for 10 minutes, then discard the skin and pick the meat from the legs. Reserve 20 g of the neatest breast meat for the final garnish and cut it in julienne fashion, into fine match-shaped rods. Weigh 120 g of the remaining cooked flesh for the royale and chill both portions promptly.

4. 4

   Clarify the consommé

   Put the remaining 9 cups (2.1 L / 2.1 kg) game stock and the woodcock fumet into a tall, heavy pot while both are cold. Add the chilled ground game, 6 egg whites, carrot, leek, celery, tomato, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, and 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) salt. Whisk thoroughly, then heat over medium heat, stirring across the pot floor until the mixture approaches a simmer and the egg-white raft begins to rise. Stop stirring immediately. Open a small chimney in the raft with a spoon and hold the liquid at the barest tremble for 45 minutes, ladling a little broth through the chimney from time to time. Never let it boil. A boil tears the raft and returns its particles to the broth. If that happens, remove the pot from the heat, strain the broth, and cool it until barely warm. Whisk the 3 reserved egg whites with 1 cup of the cloudy broth, return this mixture to the pot, and repeat the gentle clarification. Ça se rattrape.

   Once the raft rises, hands off. Its web of cooked protein is filtering the broth from inside the pot, and stirring breaks the filter you have just built.
5. 5

   Strain until limpid

   Ladle the consommé gently through a fine sieve lined with damp muslin or a rinsed coffee filter. Do not pour the raft into the sieve and do not press it; pressure forces the captured particles back into the broth. Skim every visible bead of fat from the surface, or chill briefly and lift off the set fat. You should have about 8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) of mahogany-amber consommé. If there is a little more, reduce it gently; if there is a little less, serve smaller portions rather than dilute the fumet. Season with the remaining salt only after the final volume is settled.

6. 6

   Make the lentil purée

   Rinse the lentils and simmer them in the water until completely tender and beginning to collapse, about 25 minutes, adding a little more water only if the pan threatens to dry. Drain thoroughly and blend or press through a fine sieve. Weigh exactly 60 g of lentil purée. The royale begins with 120 g woodcock purée to 60 g lentil purée, the source's two-to-one ratio; the eggs and cream bind that base but do not change its identity.

7. 7

   Mix the royale

   Blend the chilled 120 g woodcock meat with the 60 g lentil purée and heavy cream until very smooth. Add the 2 whole eggs, 2 raw yolks, white pepper, and a small pinch of salt, then blend only until combined so you do not beat in air. Fold in the finely chopped hard-boiled yolk. This liaison (egg-and-cream binder) should pour like thick cream. If it is stiff enough to mound, loosen it with 1 tablespoon of consommé; if it seems thin, chill it for 10 minutes before filling the moulds.

8. 8

   Poach the royale

   Lower the oven to 300°F (150°C). Use the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter to coat four 4-ounce ramekins, the home equivalent of the book's four baba moulds at this doubled scale. Divide the royale among them, set the ramekins in a deep pan, and add hot water to reach halfway up their sides. Cover the pan loosely with foil and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers quiver slightly. The bain-marie must remain calm; bubbling water makes holes in the custard. If the centers are still liquid, give them another 5 minutes. If a few bubbles appear, chill the royale and trim the rough surface before slicing. The garnish remains perfectly usable.

9. 9

   Cut the garnish

   Cool the ramekins for 15 minutes, then chill until firm enough to cut cleanly. Run a thin knife around each edge and unmould. If one clings, dip the base in hot water for 5 seconds and try again. Cut the royale crosswise into 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) slices, then use a small round cutter to make discs about 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) wide, close to the book's florin size. Keep the discs covered so their surfaces do not dry.

10. 10

    Assemble and serve

    Warm a soup tureen and eight shallow soup bowls with hot water, then dry them. Bring the consommé to a full boil. Arrange the royale discs in the tureen with exactly 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 20 g) of roast woodcock julienne, preserving the source's doubled proportion. Pour the boiling consommé over the garnish and carry it straight to the table, ladling a few royale coins and several fine strands of woodcock into every bowl. The broth should remain clear enough to show each cut beneath its surface. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A strong unsalted game stock is the honest home answer to the stockpot that never left the old kitchen fire. Pheasant, grouse, or mixed feathered-game stock suits the woodcock better than beef stock, which makes the consommé heavy and blunt.
• •The fumet must taste complete before clarification. Browning gives it depth, but blackened bones give bitterness, and clarification will display that mistake with perfect clarity. Bronze, not black.
• •Chill the cooked woodcock before puréeing it. Warm meat releases fat into the mixture and makes the royale coarse; cold meat and a calm bain-marie give a close, tender slice.
• •Woodcock is essential here. If it cannot be sourced legally and in sound condition, choose another game consommé rather than quietly substituting chicken and keeping the Castellane name.
• •Serve with a mature red Burgundy poured lightly and a restrained main course afterward. This consommé is small in the bowl but deep in flavor, so it should open dinner, not compete with it.

Advance Preparation

• •The consommé may be clarified up to 2 days ahead. Chill it quickly in a shallow metal container, cover, and refrigerate; remove any set fat before reheating it to a full boil for service.
• •The royale may be poached, chilled, and left in its ramekins for up to 1 day. Unmould and cut it while cold, then let the discs lose their refrigerator chill as the consommé reheats.
• •The woodcock fumet may be prepared and chilled 1 day ahead. Keep it separate until you build the clarification raft so you can judge its strength once more before committing it to the stock.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)