Consommé Germaine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Four 4-ounce (120 ml) dariole, timbale, or straight-sided ramekin moulds
• •Small roasting pan and folded kitchen towel for the bain-marie
• •Food processor with chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp cheesecloth
• •Wide shallow saucepan and slotted spoon
• •1 1/2-inch (4 cm) plain round cutter
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Porcelain soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the cold station

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade, the diced chicken, egg white, and cream for at least 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C), butter four 4-ounce (120 ml) dariole, timbale, or straight-sided ramekin moulds, and arrange them on a folded towel in a small roasting pan. The towel keeps the moulds steady and softens the heat reaching the custard.

2. 2

   Blend the pea royale

   Blanch the petits pois in boiling water for 90 seconds, just until tender and brilliantly green. Drain them, cool them immediately under very cold running water, then drain again and press away excess moisture. Blend the peas with the whole eggs, yolks, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and a small pinch of white pepper until smooth. Press the mixture through a fine sieve, let it stand for 5 minutes, and skim away any froth. Fold in the Mirepoix (No. 228) and the chervil pluches, the small picked leaves, without beating air back into the mixture.

3. 3

   Set the royales gently

   Divide the pea mixture among the buttered moulds. Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up their sides, then cover the pan loosely with foil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are set and the centres give one soft tremble; an instant-read thermometer should register about 160°F (71°C). If the surrounding water starts bubbling, add a little cold water and lower the oven heat at once. A boiling bain-marie makes holes and curdles the custard. Lift out the moulds, cool them, cover, and chill for at least 2 hours.

4. 4

   Make the chicken forcemeat

   Reserve 1 tablespoon of the measured cream in the cold. Process the chilled chicken with the remaining salt and white pepper until it becomes a fine, sticky paste, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the egg white and process until absorbed. With the machine pulsing, add the remaining cream gradually, stopping as soon as the forcemeat is smooth and softly glossy. If it turns grainy or shows free liquid, stop immediately. Ça se rattrape: set the bowl over ice until thoroughly cold, then pulse in the reserved cream a teaspoon at a time. Scrape the finished forcemeat through a fine sieve and chill it for 20 minutes.

5. 5

   Shape and poach pastilles

   Bring 2 inches (5 cm) of water to 175°F to 180°F (79°C to 82°C) in a wide pan. Poach one teaspoon of forcemeat as a test until its centre reaches 165°F (74°C), then taste and correct the seasoning. Using two damp teaspoons, shape 36 short, flattened oval quenelles of about 2 teaspoons each, closer to pastilles than pointed dinner-course quenelles. Poach them in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once. The water should barely move. If a tester frays, chill the forcemeat for another 15 minutes before trying again; if it swells and turns coarse, cool the poaching water before continuing. Lift the cooked quenelles onto a clean tray with a slotted spoon. Never poach them in the consommé, because their proteins would cloud it.

6. 6

   Cut clean roundels

   Run a thin knife around each cold royale and unmould it onto a chilled board. Slice it crosswise into rounds about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick. If ramekins have produced wide slices, stamp regular 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) roundels with a plain cutter. Work while the royale is thoroughly cold. If it cracks, return it to the cold for 20 minutes; intact rounds can still be cut from the larger pieces.

7. 7

   Heat the consommé

   Pass the chicken consommé through damp cheesecloth into a perfectly clean saucepan, leaving any sediment behind. Taste it cold enough to judge the seasoning, then bring it to a decisive boil only when the table is ready. Skim away any fat at the surface. If loose particles disturb its clarity, remove the pan from the heat, let them settle for a minute, and pass the broth through fresh damp cheesecloth once more.

8. 8

   Assemble and serve

   Warm a soup tureen and the serving bowls with hot water, then dry them. Arrange the pea-royale roundels and poached chicken quenelles in the tureen, distributing them gently so the rounds remain whole. Pour the boiling chicken consommé over the garnish at the last possible moment and serve immediately. The hot broth warms the small garnishes without another cooking. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Frozen petits pois are the honest choice unless fresh peas are truly sweet and newly shelled. They were frozen at their greenest, while tired fresh peas turn starchy and give the royale a khaki colour.
• •This entry begins with finished, clarified chicken consommé, not ordinary stock. It should be deeply chicken-scented, free of fat and sediment, and firm like a soft jelly when cold. Clarity is flavour made visible here.
• •Keep the chicken, processor, egg white, and cream cold enough to make your fingers complain. Chicken forcemeat is an emulsion, and warmth lets its fat and liquid separate before the egg white can bind them.
• •A food processor replaces the brigade's pounding mortar honestly. The fine sieve remains worth the work because it removes sinew and leaves the little quenelles tender rather than fibrous.
• •Serve a dry Champagne or a restrained white Burgundy. The wine should refresh between spoonfuls without trampling the peas, chervil, and delicate chicken.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare or obtain the clarified chicken consommé up to 3 days ahead. Chill it quickly, refrigerate it covered, and remove every trace of set surface fat before reheating.
• •Prepare the Mirepoix (No. 228) ahead and refrigerate the measured portion. Bring it only to cool room temperature before folding it into the pea mixture, since hot mirepoix would begin setting the eggs.
• •The pea royales can be baked and refrigerated in their moulds one day ahead. Keep them covered and cut the roundels while cold, no more than a few hours before service.
• •The quenelles can be poached one day ahead and refrigerated in a single layer, tightly covered. Rewarm them for 2 minutes in barely simmering water, drain well, and place them in the tureen just before the consommé is poured.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)