Consommé Marquise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5- to 6-quart heavy stockpot
• •Food processor with chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and double-layer cheesecloth
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two wide 12-inch sauté pans
• •Two-quart soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the pith

   Soak the professionally dressed calf spinal cords in several changes of cold water for 1 hour. Meanwhile, combine the court-bouillon water, wine, vinegar, onion, carrot, bouquet garni, and salt. Simmer for 15 minutes, then strain. Hold this court-bouillon, the short aromatic poaching liquor, between 180 and 185°F (82 and 85°C). Lower in the spinal cords and poach gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until opaque and at least 160°F (71°C) at the centre. Cool them in the liquor, then chill until firm enough to slice into thin roundels. If using sweetbreads, soak them for 2 hours, poach for 12 to 15 minutes to the same internal temperature, peel away the outer membrane, and press under a light weight while chilling before slicing the firmest lobes into thin rounds.

   Use calf spinal cord only when it comes professionally dressed from a licensed butcher and its sale is legal where you live. No cooking method makes unregulated neural tissue acceptable, so never extract or improvise it at home.
2. 2

   Make the forcemeat

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Process the diced chicken with the quenelle salt and white pepper until smooth, cold, and tacky. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. With the machine pulsing, add all but the reserved 2 tablespoons of cream gradually; the paste should become pale, glossy, and supple without warming. Fold in the finely chopped filberts by hand, cover the surface, and chill for at least 30 minutes. If the forcemeat looks oily or separated, stop. Ça se rattrape: set the bowl over ice until thoroughly cold, then process briefly with 1 tablespoon of the reserved cream until smooth.

   A food processor replaces the pounding and repeated sieving of the brigade kitchen. If the paste is perfectly smooth, the sieve is scaffolding; keeping it cold is not.
3. 3

   Build the raft

   Put the cold stock, ground chicken, 8 egg whites, sliced celery, and 1 teaspoon of salt into a clean 5- to 6-quart stockpot. Whisk vigorously while everything is still cold, breaking the meat into the finest possible suspension. Set the pot over medium-low heat and stir slowly across the bottom with a flat spatula as the mixture warms. Scrape every part of the base so no egg catches. When the proteins begin rising into a pale, solid cap at about 120°F (49°C), stop stirring completely and open a small chimney in the centre with the handle of a spoon.

4. 4

   Clarify without stirring

   Bring the liquid beneath the raft to the barest tremble, never a boil, then keep it there for 35 to 40 minutes. Baste the top of the raft occasionally by spooning clear broth through the chimney, but do not pierce or stir the cap. The celery clarifies with the meat and whites, giving up its full flavour without leaving fibres in the finished consommé. If the pot boils and the raft collapses, take it off the heat at once and let it settle for 10 minutes. Ça se rattrape: strain the broth, cool it completely, whisk the 2 optional egg whites with 1 cup of the cold broth, return that mixture to the pot, and repeat the slow clarification.

5. 5

   Strain to brilliance

   Wet a double layer of fine cheesecloth, wring it nearly dry, and use it to line a fine sieve over a clean pot. Ladle the consommé gently through the chimney and cloth without tipping or pressing the raft; pressure drives the captured cloudiness straight back into the broth. Remove any beads of fat from the surface with the edge of a clean paper towel. Taste while hot and correct the salt. The finished consommé should be deep amber, transparent, and strongly but cleanly marked by celery.

6. 6

   Poach sixty pastilles

   Ten minutes before serving, bring the salted poaching water in two wide pans to 175 to 180°F (79 to 82°C). First poach one teaspoonful of forcemeat as a test. It should hold neatly and feel tender, not rubbery; if it spreads, chill the mixture for 15 minutes and process it once more, while a tough test quenelle can be softened with the last spoonful of reserved cream. Shape 60 quenelles en pastilles, small flattened rounds, between two damp teaspoons. Divide them between the pans and poach without boiling for 7 to 9 minutes, until they float, feel lightly springy, and reach 165°F (74°C) at the centre. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain carefully.

7. 7

   Fill the tureen

   Warm a two-quart soup tureen with hot water, then dry it. Arrange the drained filbert chicken quenelles and thin calf's-pith roundels inside, distributing them so every serving receives both. Bring the clarified consommé to one brief, full boil, exactly as the source directs, and pour it immediately around the garnishes rather than onto them. Carry the tureen straight to the table and serve 7 or 8 quenelles with several pale roundels in each bowl. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The stock is the foundation. Use a strong homemade chicken or light veal stock that sets softly when chilled; thin boxed broth may clarify, but clarity cannot supply flavour that was never there.
• •Chop the toasted filberts with a knife until fine but still distinct. A processor quickly turns their oil into paste, muddying the forcemeat and erasing the small nutty flecks that identify the garnish.
• •Pressed veal sweetbread is a practical replacement only when calf's pith is unavailable. Its bite is firmer and less custardy, and that difference should be understood rather than hidden.
• •Serve the consommé in small warmed bowls with a dry Champagne or restrained white Burgundy. This is a first course of precision and richness, so the wine should refresh rather than compete.

Advance Preparation

• •The consommé can be clarified up to three days ahead. Cool it rapidly, cover, and refrigerate; remove any set fat while cold, then bring it to one brief boil only when the tureen is ready.
• •The calf's pith or sweetbread can be poached, chilled, and sliced one day ahead. Keep the roundels covered with a little strained court-bouillon so their surfaces do not dry.
• •The filbert chicken forcemeat can be made and chilled up to one day ahead. For the closest reading of the source, shape and poach the quenelles ten minutes before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)