Consommé Doria

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •⅜-inch (1 cm) Parisienne scoop or small melon baller
• •Small food processor
• •Two teaspoons and a fine-tipped paring knife
• •Small wide poaching pan
• •Fine-mesh sieve or skimmer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small deep saucepan and deep-fry thermometer
• •3-quart soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Protect the consommé

   Measure 8 cups of the consommé into a spotless saucepan, cover it, and keep it cold for final service. Put 2 cups into a small, wide pan for the quenelles and cucumber, then reserve the remaining cup for the tapioca. None of the working consommé returns to the serving pan. This separation is the principle that decides the dish: starch and proteins may cloud the working broth, but the final two quarts remain brilliant.

   Taste the consommé while it is cold. Cold exposes weak seasoning plainly; adjust only after the final heating, when reduction has had its say.
2. 2

   Make the forcemeat

   Chill the processor bowl and blade for ten minutes. Pulse the cold chicken with the salt and white pepper until it becomes a fine, tacky paste. Add the egg white and process just until absorbed. With the motor running, add 6 tablespoons of the cold cream in three additions, stopping as soon as the forcemeat is smooth and glossy. Reserve the remaining 2 tablespoons for adjustment. If the mixture warms or loosens, stop and chill it over ice for fifteen minutes. Don't chase it with flour. Ça se rattrape when cold.

   Cold keeps the fat and liquid held inside the chicken proteins. A warm forcemeat turns grainy during poaching, however grandly it was shaped.
3. 3

   Test the texture

   Bring the 2 cups of working consommé to the faintest tremble. Poach a teaspoon of forcemeat for three minutes, then cut and taste it. It should be tender, springy, and smooth. If it is firm or rubbery, pulse 1 tablespoon of the reserved cream into the mixture and test again. If it spreads or breaks apart, chill the forcemeat for another fifteen minutes before testing once more.

4. 4

   Shape grooved quenelles

   Keep the working consommé just below a simmer. With two teaspoons dipped in cold water, shape 36 small, elongated quenelles, each using a scant 2 teaspoons of forcemeat. Draw two or three shallow lengthwise grooves along each one with the wet tip of a small knife. Lower them into the consommé in batches, leaving room between them, and poach for four to five minutes without boiling, turning once. They are ready when opaque, lightly springy, and at least 165°F (74°C) at the centre. Lift them carefully to a covered dish.

5. 5

   Turn cucumber pearls

   Use a ⅜-inch Parisienne scoop to cut 60 large pearls from the firm flesh of the cucumbers, avoiding the watery seed cores. Strain the quenelle-poaching consommé, return it to a gentle simmer, and cook the pearls for two to four minutes, just until tender at the surface while holding their shape. Lift them into cold water, then drain well. If their edges begin to soften, cool them immediately. Caught before they collapse, they will firm enough to serve.

6. 6

   Poach Japanese pearls

   Bring the reserved cup of consommé to a gentle simmer and rain in the small pearl tapioca, stirring so it cannot settle into a cake. Cook for twelve to eighteen minutes, or according to its size, until the pearls are almost entirely translucent with only the faintest pale point at their centres. If the liquid tightens before they soften, add a spoonful of hot water and continue. Any starchiness stays in this working pan, safely away from the serving consommé. Drain through a fine sieve, rinse briefly with a trickle of hot water, and moisten with a spoonful of clean consommé.

7. 7

   Shape cheese pellets

   Mix the prepared Ordinary Pâte à Choux (No. 2373) with the grated Gruyère. With lightly dampened fingers, roll it into 12 pellets about the size of large peas and chill them while the soup is assembled. This is the home quantity, not a pastry-shop batch, and the finished choux component stays intact exactly as the source intends.

8. 8

   Assemble the tureen

   Warm a 3-quart soup tureen with hot water, then dry it thoroughly. Arrange the cucumber pearls, poached chicken quenelles, and drained tapioca in the bottom. Bring the reserved 8 cups of clean consommé to a full boil, taste for seasoning, and pour it immediately over the garnish. Scatter the chervil pluches across the clear surface without stirring.

9. 9

   Fry and serve

   Four minutes before serving, heat the oil in a small deep saucepan to 350°F (175°C). Fry the cheese choux pellets until evenly golden and crisp, about three to four minutes, moving them gently so they colour on all sides. If they brown before they feel light and crisp, lower the oil to 330°F (165°C) and let their centres finish. Drain well and pass them separately in a warm, napkin-lined dish so each guest can add one at the last moment. Never drown all twelve in advance. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The consommé is the foundation, not background. Use a genuinely clear chicken consommé with enough body to feel lightly silky on the lips. Ordinary cloudy chicken broth cannot hide beneath these pale garnishes.
• •A ⅜-inch Parisienne scoop makes the cucumber pearls quickly and evenly. Work around the seed core, turn the cucumber scraps into a salad, and choose another firm section if a pearl tears.
• •Keep the chicken, cream, egg white, processor bowl, and blade cold. Temperature matters more than expensive poultry here; a careful emulsion gives the quenelles their tenderness.
• •Chervil pluches are the tender picked shreds of the herb, not chopped parsley scattered by habit. If chervil is unavailable, use a restrained mixture of flat-leaf parsley and one or two tarragon leaves, knowing that its gentle anise perfume will be less exact.
• •A mineral white Burgundy, Chablis, or dry Champagne suits the clear broth and delicate garnish. Pour modest glasses, since the consommé should speak first.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken consommé can be prepared up to three days ahead and kept covered in the cold, or frozen well in advance. Remove every trace of set surface fat before reheating so the finished soup remains clear.
• •The quenelles may be shaped and poached one day ahead. Chill them promptly and store them covered with a spoonful of consommé, then warm them gently before they enter the tureen.
• •Turn and poach the cucumber pearls earlier on the day of serving. Keep them chilled and well drained so they do not dilute the final broth.
• •The tapioca can be cooked up to four hours ahead and held with a spoonful of consommé. If the pearls cling together, loosen them gently with warm consommé rather than crushing them.
• •Shape the cheese choux pellets several hours ahead and keep them chilled, but fry them only four minutes before service. Their last-minute crispness is part of the composition, not decoration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)