Consommé Colombine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-quart (2.8 L) spotless saucepan for the consommé
• •2-quart (1.9 L) saucepan for blanching and poaching
• •6 to 10 mm cuillère parisienne or small melon baller
• •Fine-mesh skimmer
• •Fine sieve and clean muslin
• •2½-quart (2.4 L) soup tureen
• •Small lidded timbale or ramekin for the eggs

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape the vegetable pearls

   Use a 6 to 10 mm cuillère parisienne, a small melon baller, to scoop 2 tablespoons each of carrot and turnip pearls. Peel the turnip deeply enough to remove its fibrous outer layer, and hold its pearls in cold water so they remain very white. Keep the vegetables separate. The leftover carrot and turnip belong in the next stockpot.

2. 2

   Cook each garnish

   Prepare a bowl of ice water and bring a medium saucepan of water to a lively simmer with half the salt. Cook the turnip pearls first for 3 to 4 minutes, until a knife tip enters with slight resistance, then lift them into the ice water. Cook the peas for 30 to 60 seconds, just until vivid green, and chill them at once. Finish with the carrot pearls, simmering them for 3 to 4 minutes before chilling. Drain everything separately and blot it dry. These small vegetables must hold their shape; if a batch turns soft, scoop a fresh spoonful and cook it less. The quantities are mercifully small.

3. 3

   Cut the roast pigeon

   Slice the chilled roast-pigeon fillet across the grain into a julienne, match-shaped rods about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long. Measure 2 tablespoons and reserve the rest for another plate. Warm a 2½-quart soup tureen, then place the carrot pearls, white turnip pearls, peas, and pigeon julienne in its base. Do not add the eggs; the source sends those separately, and so will you.

4. 4

   Poach the tiny eggs

   Fill a small saucepan with about 2 inches (5 cm) of water, add the vinegar and remaining salt, and bring it just below a simmer, about 180°F to 185°F (82°C to 85°C). Crack each pigeons' egg into a tiny cup, then lower six at a time into the barely trembling water. Poach for 75 to 90 seconds, until the whites are opaque and the yolks remain yielding. Lift them with a fine skimmer, trim only loose tails of white, and hold them in clean warm water. If the whites feather badly, the water is moving too hard; lower the heat, skim away the strands, and continue with the next eggs. If a yolk breaks, replace that egg rather than sending its fragments into the consommé.

5. 5

   Heat the consommé

   Put the chicken consommé in a spotless saucepan and bring it to a clean boil over medium heat only when the tureen and eggs are ready. Skim away any beads of fat without stirring or whisking. If a few loose particles give the broth a faint haze, ça se rattrape: take it off the heat and pass it through damp double muslin into a clean pan without pressing, then return it promptly to the boil.

6. 6

   Assemble and serve

   Drain the poached eggs carefully and arrange them in a small warmed timbale or lidded ramekin. Pour the boiling consommé in one steady stream over the carrot, turnip, peas, and pigeon julienne in the warmed tureen. Carry the tureen and the covered eggs to the table together, letting each guest add one or two eggs after the broth is ladled. Serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This recipe begins with finished chicken consommé and roast pigeon, exactly as the source assumes. Make the consommé ahead, chill it thoroughly, remove every trace of set fat, and strain it without pressing. A strongly flavored but cloudy stock is still stock, not consommé.
• •Buy pigeons' eggs only from a reputable keeper of domestic birds, and make Colombine only during their spring and summer laying season. Never collect eggs from wild nests. If the eggs cannot be found, make a consommé printanier with spring vegetables instead; quail eggs are pleasant, but the substitution is not invisible and the result is no longer Colombine.
• •Young domestic pigeon is commonly sold as squab. One small roasted breast supplies more than the required julienne, and slicing it cold gives clean rods instead of ragged fibers.
• •The original timbale is simply a small covered vessel for carrying the eggs separately. A warmed lidded ramekin is its honest home equivalent, with none of the ceremony lost.
• •For guests who should avoid soft yolks, poach their eggs until the yolks are fully set. Mark those eggs in a separate ramekin so service remains clear and calm.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the chicken consommé up to 3 days ahead. Chill it quickly, keep it covered in the refrigerator, and remove the solid fat before its final straining and reheating.
• •Roast the pigeon and cut the chilled breast julienne-fashion up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate it tightly covered so the narrow pieces do not dry out.
• •The vegetable pearls and peas can be cooked earlier on the day of service. Chill, drain, and store each garnish separately; combine them only in the warmed tureen.
• •The pigeons' eggs may be poached up to 2 hours ahead, chilled immediately, and refrigerated in clean water. Rewarm them for 20 to 30 seconds in barely simmering salted water before transferring them to the timbale.
• •Do not store the assembled soup. Consommé and garnishes keep their clarity, color, and texture only when held separately until the final pour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)