Consommé Mercédès

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart heavy pot for clarification
• •2-quart saucepan for the cocks' combs
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Cheesecloth
• •2½-quart soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the combs

   Put the cleaned cocks' combs in a small saucepan with 2 cups of the chicken stock and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Bring the liquid slowly to a bare tremble, then poach for 45 to 60 minutes, until a small knife slips through the thick base without resistance and the combs are tender but still hold their lobed shape. If they remain leathery, keep them at that gentle tremble for another 10 minutes; patience, not harder boiling. Lift them out, cover, and refrigerate. Strain their cooking liquor into the remaining stock and cool the combined stock completely over an ice bath.

2. 2

   Build the cold raft

   Put the lean ground chicken, 8 egg whites, chopped pimentos, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a tall, heavy pot. Work them together thoroughly, then stir in the completely cold stock. Cold matters here: the proteins must disperse before they set, because they are about to form the clarification raft that catches fat and suspended particles. Set the pot over medium-low heat and stir slowly across the bottom until pale curds begin rising through the liquid.

3. 3

   Clarify at a tremble

   Stop stirring as soon as the raft gathers across the surface. Open a small chimney in its centre with the handle of a wooden spoon, lower the heat, and hold the consommé at the faintest tremble for 45 minutes; small bubbles should pass through the chimney, never burst through the whole raft. If the pot boils and tears the raft, remove it from the heat at once and let everything settle for 10 minutes before straining carefully. If the broth remains cloudy, ça se rattrape: chill it completely, whisk the 2 optional egg whites with 1 cup of the cold broth, stir that mixture back into the pot, and repeat the slow heating and straining.

4. 4

   Strain and measure

   Rinse a double layer of cheesecloth, wring it damp, and use it to line a fine-mesh sieve over a clean pot. Ladle the consommé through from beside the raft without pressing or pouring the solids; pressing returns everything the raft has just removed. Measure exactly 6⅖ cups (1.52 L) of clarified pimento consommé for the soup and reserve any extra for another use. Warm the measured consommé to just below a simmer, skim any last trace of fat, and correct the salt gently. Do not reduce it past this measure, because the source's four-to-one proportion of consommé to sherry is part of the dish.

5. 5

   Arrange the garnish

   Warm a soup tureen with hot water, then empty and dry it. Cut the drained capsicum julienne-fashion, meaning fine match-shaped rods, then shorten them to about ¾ inch (2 cm) so they sit neatly on the spoon. Dip the cooked cocks' combs in the hot consommé just long enough to heat them through. Place the warm combs and the 3⅕ tablespoons of short capsicum julienne in the bottom of the tureen.

6. 6

   Finish away from fire

   Reserve 1 tablespoon from the measured sherry. Bring the consommé to a bright shimmer, then lift the pot completely off the burner and stir in the remaining sherry. It must not boil afterward. If the pot accidentally returns to the heat and the aroma dulls, pull it off immediately and add the reserved tablespoon; ça se rattrape. If all is well, add that final tablespoon anyway so the original proportion remains exact. Pour the consommé over the garnish and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Jarred pimentos are the honest pantry choice here, provided they are sweet peppers packed in water or their own juices rather than sharp vinegar. Drain them well. One portion perfumes the clarification raft, while a fresh portion supplies the crimson julienne.
• •Order cleaned cocks' combs from a specialist poultry butcher. Raw, untreated combs require scalding and careful peeling, work that belonged to the brigade's poultry station; buying them cleaned removes that scaffolding without changing the garnish.
• •If cocks' combs cannot be found, don't quietly replace them with mushrooms or dumplings. The broth will still be splendid without them, but it becomes pimento chicken consommé with sherry rather than Consommé Mercédès.
• •Use dry sherry at room temperature, never sweet cream sherry. Fino gives a brisk saline fragrance, while amontillado is rounder and nuttier; both respect the source, and either leaves the broth clear.
• •Serve the same sherry, lightly chilled, in small glasses beside the soup. There is already plenty happening in the tureen, so bread is unnecessary.

Advance Preparation

• •The pimento chicken consommé can be clarified up to two days ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate; reheat only the measured 6⅖ cups needed for service.
• •Poach the cocks' combs earlier the same day and refrigerate them covered with a little strained cooking liquor. Warm them in the finished consommé just before they enter the tureen.
• •Cut the short capsicum julienne a few hours ahead and keep it covered in the cold. Measure the sherry in advance, but add it only after the hot consommé has left the burner.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)