Consommé Diplomate

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible scraper
• •Two sheets each of baking parchment and foil
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve lined with damp muslin
• •2-quart or larger soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the farce tools

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Keep the chicken, egg white, and cream in the cold until the moment they are needed. A farce mousseline, a fine cream-bound forcemeat, depends on a cold emulsion; warmth melts the fat before the proteins can hold it.

   Set the processor bowl over a larger bowl of ice if the kitchen is warm. Technique first: an inexpensive chicken breast kept properly cold makes a finer farce than a costly one allowed to become greasy.
2. 2

   Make farce mousseline

   Process the chilled chicken with the salt until it becomes a smooth, sticky paste. Add the egg white and process just until absorbed. With the machine pulsing, add the cream in three small additions, waiting until each disappears before adding the next, then work in the crayfish butter. Pass the farce mousseline once through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible scraper. Poach a teaspoon in barely trembling water and taste it, then weigh exactly 6 ounces (170 g) of finished farce for the garnish. If the mixture turns shiny, loose, or greasy, stop immediately and chill it over ice for 10 minutes before processing again. Ça se rattrape.

   The farce is ready when it feels tacky and holds a clean ridge from the scraper. Long processing warms it, so stop as soon as the emulsion is smooth.
3. 3

   Roll and poach

   Divide the 6 ounces (170 g) of farce between two sheets of baking parchment. Shape each portion into a small sausage about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, roll the parchment tightly around it, fold in the ends, and wrap it securely in foil to hold the cylinder. Lower the rolls into water held at 167 to 176°F (75 to 80°C), with only an occasional tremble at the surface. Poach for 15 to 18 minutes, until the center reaches 165°F (74°C). Lift them out and rest for 5 minutes, then cool until firm enough to slice. If the water boils and a roll swells or loses its perfect shape, pull the pan off the heat at once; the forcemeat remains usable, and chilling will let you trim and slice it neatly.

4. 4

   Poach the tapioca

   Bring a saucepan of unsalted water to a steady boil and rain in the dry tapioca while stirring. Lower the heat and poach gently until the pearls are completely transparent and tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain them and rinse under cool water until the excess surface starch is gone, then measure exactly 4 tablespoons (60 ml / about 55 g) of poached tapioca. If the pearls have gathered into a gummy mass, rinse and separate them with your fingers rather than forcing them through the sieve.

5. 5

   Bind and strain

   Set a fine-mesh sieve lined with two layers of damp, well-wrung muslin over a clean saucepan. Bring the chicken consommé to a bare simmer, stir in the measured poached tapioca, and hold it there for 8 minutes so the tapioca lends the broth its faint body. Pour the consommé through the muslin and let it drain untouched. Never squeeze or scrape the cloth, which would drive starch and sediment back into the broth. If flecks pass through or the liquid turns hazy, stop, let it settle for 5 minutes, and filter it again through fresh damp muslin without pressing. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Slice and serve

   Warm a soup tureen and the serving bowls with hot water, then dry them completely. Unwrap the forcemeat rolls, trim the ends, and cut them into thin roundels about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Arrange the roundels in the tureen with the black truffle cut julienne-fashion into fine matchsticks. Bring the strained consommé to a full boil without reducing it, then pour it directly over the garnish. The heat releases the truffle's perfume and warms the roundels without cooking either a second time. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Begin with true chicken consommé, not ordinary stock. The source treats it as a finished foundation, and so does this recipe. Make and clarify it ahead, chill it, and lift away every trace of surface fat; clarity is the dish.
• •Crayfish butter is not merely colored butter. Its shell flavor gives the pale chicken farce its sweet crustacean depth and coral tint. Make it when cooked crayfish shells are available and freeze it in tablespoon portions for dishes such as this.
• •A sound preserved whole black truffle is the classical pantry's honest answer outside the fresh season. Drain it well and cut the flesh itself julienne-fashion. Truffle oil supplies perfume but neither the texture nor the quiet earthy flavor this garnish requires.
• •Serve this in small bowls as a first course. The consommé is concentrated, the garnish rich, and a restrained portion leaves the table ready for what follows. A dry Champagne or a mineral white Burgundy suits it without bullying the truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken consommé can be clarified up to 3 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to 3 months. Remove every trace of set fat before reheating.
• •The forcemeat rolls can be poached 1 day ahead, cooled quickly, and refrigerated in their wrapping. Slice them shortly before service so the cut faces remain moist.
• •The tapioca can be poached up to 4 hours ahead and held covered in cold water. Drain and measure it only when the consommé is ready to be bound; perform the final muslin strain close to serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)