Consommé Célestine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3 to 4-quart (3 to 4 L) saucepan
• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Fine linen or double layer of cheesecloth
• •Small offset spatula
• •9 by 13-inch (23 by 33 cm) shallow baking dish
• •Roasting pan large enough to hold the baking dish
• •1-inch (2.5 cm) round or fluted cutter
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •2-quart (1.9 L) soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the farce mousseline

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Pulse the cold chicken with the salt and white pepper until it becomes a fine, tacky paste, then add the egg white and process only until absorbed. With the motor running, add the cold cream in four small additions, letting each disappear before adding the next. This is farce mousseline, a cream chicken forcemeat, and cold is what keeps it smooth. If the bowl warms or the mixture turns loose and grainy, stop immediately, chill everything for 15 minutes, then pulse briefly to bring it together. Do not chase a warm mixture with more cream. Press the forcemeat through a fine sieve, cover, and keep cold.

2. 2

   Poach the tapioca

   Bring the water to a full boil and rain in the tapioca while stirring. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pearls are almost completely translucent with only the smallest white point at their centers. Drain them through a fine sieve lined with damp fine linen or cheesecloth, then rinse with hot water until the runoff is clear. Measure 6 small tablespoons (90 ml / about 90 g) of cooked tapioca. If the pearls clump or still shed milky starch, rinse and separate them gently with your fingers. Ça se rattrape. Cloudy pearls are not ruined; they are simply carrying starch the consommé does not want.

   Instant tapioca dissolves too readily and thickens the broth. Small pearl tapioca remains distinct, which is essential here.
3. 3

   Ready the pannequets

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Butter a shallow 9 by 13-inch (23 by 33 cm) baking dish. Lay out the 6 finished pannequets from Preparations for Pancakes and Pannequets (No. 2403), made in the thin form used for Pannequets with Jam (No. 2476). For Célestine they must remain savory, so use no sugar, flavouring, jam, or glaze. Their separate formulas belong to their own entries; here the cook reaches for the finished pannequets.

   The finished pannequets should be thin, supple, and no more browned than necessary. Dry, crisp edges will split when the rounds are stamped.
4. 4

   Build the layers

   Divide the cold forcemeat among the 6 pannequets and spread each with a very thin, even coating, about ⅛ inch (3 mm) or slightly less. Stack them into two neat piles of three, aligning the edges without pressing hard enough to force out the filling. Sprinkle the finely chopped black truffle evenly over the exposed forcemeat on the uppermost pannequet of each stack. Keep the truffle on top as the entry directs; buried between every layer, it overwhelms the chicken and muddies the clean pattern.

5. 5

   Poach in the oven

   Set the two stacks in the buttered dish and cover loosely with a piece of buttered parchment, tenting it so it does not touch the truffle. Place the dish inside a roasting pan and pour hot water into the outer pan to come one-third of the way up its sides. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until the forcemeat feels just firm and reaches 165°F (74°C) at the center. The low oven and water bath replace the gentle front of the old range. If the edges set before the middle is safe, cover more closely and continue in 2-minute intervals; raising the heat will toughen the outside before the center catches up.

6. 6

   Stamp the rounds

   Lift the stacks from the dish and let them settle for 5 minutes. With a sharp 1-inch (2.5 cm) round or fluted cutter, stamp straight down through all three layers, keeping the cuts close together. Wipe the cutter after every few rounds so the edges remain neat. If the layers slide instead of cutting cleanly, chill the stacks for 10 minutes and try again. They have not failed; the forcemeat simply needs time to firm.

7. 7

   Finish the consommé

   Put the chicken consommé in a clean saucepan and add the 6 small tablespoons of drained tapioca. Heat gently without whisking, then bring it to one clean boil immediately before serving. Skim away any foam or visible fat and taste for seasoning. If starch from the tapioca dulls the broth, strain the consommé through damp fine linen, rinse the pearls once more, and reunite them. Ça se rattrape. Do not reduce the broth while reheating, or its seasoning will become harsh.

8. 8

   Pour and serve

   Warm a soup tureen with hot water, then empty and dry it. Arrange the stamped Célestine rounds across the bottom and carry the tureen to the table. Pour in the boiling tapioca consommé only when everyone is seated. The rounds should be warmed by the broth, never boiled inside it, which would loosen their layers and blur the consommé. Ladle gently so every bowl receives tapioca and several truffled rounds. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Begin with genuinely clear chicken consommé. This recipe garnishes a finished consommé; it does not clarify an ordinary stock. Chill the broth first and lift away every trace of set fat, because even a spoonful will show on this surface.
• •The preparation time assumes the finished cross-referenced pannequets are ready. Their large batter formulas are useful brigade foundations, but making an entire sweet batch here would be scaffolding without purpose. You need six thin, completely unsweetened pannequets.
• •Fresh black truffle gives the cleanest perfume. When it is unavailable, use a preserved whole black truffle packed in its own juice, drained and dried before chopping. Truffle oil cannot replace the texture or measured aroma of the truffle in this garnish.
• •Keep the chicken, egg white, cream, processor bowl, and blade thoroughly cold. A warm farce mousseline loses its fine emulsion and cooks grainy; temperature matters more than an expensive chicken.
• •Serve with a dry Champagne or a restrained white Burgundy. The wine should follow the clear broth and truffle, not shout over them.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the chicken consommé up to 3 days ahead, cool it promptly, and keep it covered in the cold. It may also be frozen without the tapioca or garnish.
• •The pannequet stacks may be oven-poached, stamped, and refrigerated one day ahead. Store the rounds in a single layer between parchment, then warm them, covered, for 5 minutes in a low oven before placing them in the tureen.
• •Poach and rinse the tapioca earlier on the day of serving. Keep it covered in the cold with a spoonful of consommé, then rinse briefly with hot water before adding it to the main broth if the pearls have clung together.
• •Do not combine the broth, tapioca, and Célestine rounds until service. Holding them together softens the layers and slowly steals the consommé's clarity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)