Consommé Montmorency

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Food processor with a sharp metal blade
• •Piping bag with a ½-inch open-star tip
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve and well-rinsed muslin
• •Thin flexible spatula
• •3-quart soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the tapioca

   Bring 6 cups of the water to a boil in a saucepan. Rain in the small pearl tapioca while stirring, then lower the heat and poach at a gentle simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring often enough to prevent sticking. The pearls are ready when they are completely translucent, with no chalky bead at the centre. Drain them in a fine sieve without rinsing, then measure exactly 6 level tablespoons of cooked tapioca. Discard any surplus.

2. 2

   Bind and strain

   Reserve 1 cup of the chicken consommé and warm the remaining 7 cups to a bare simmer. Stir in the measured 6 tablespoons of poached tapioca and hold it at that barely moving simmer for 8 minutes, letting the released starch give the broth a very light body. Line a fine sieve with well-rinsed damp muslin and set it over a clean pot. Pour in the consommé and let gravity carry it through, then stir in the reserved cup. Never squeeze or press the cloth. If the flow slows, lift the corners gently; if you have pressed and clouded the broth, let it stand for 5 minutes and ladle the clear upper portion through fresh damp muslin, leaving the sediment behind.

   The finished consommé should remain visibly clear and feel only faintly fuller on the lips. Tapioca binds it; it must never turn it into gravy.
3. 3

   Make cold forcemeat

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Pulse the cold chicken with the ½ teaspoon of salt until it becomes a smooth, tacky paste, scraping the bowl once or twice. Add the egg white and pulse until fully absorbed. Add the cold cream in four small additions, pulsing briefly after each, then add the white pepper. Stop as soon as the forcemeat is satin-smooth. Warmth breaks this emulsion, so if the paste turns grainy or sheds liquid, stop at once, nest the processor bowl in ice for 10 minutes, and pulse again only two or three times. Ça se rattrape. Poach a teaspoonful in hot water until it reaches 165°F (74°C); it should hold together, taste properly seasoned, and feel tender rather than rubbery.

4. 4

   Pipe the quenelles

   Fit a piping bag with a ½-inch open-star tip and fill it with the cold chicken forcemeat. On a tray lined with dampened parchment, pipe 36 tapered, grooved quenelles about 1¼ inches long. Use a wet paring knife to cut the paste cleanly at the tip. Chill the shaped quenelles for 10 minutes so the grooves set before poaching.

5. 5

   Poach without boiling

   Heat 4 cups of the water with 2 teaspoons of the cooking salt to 175 to 180°F (79 to 82°C). The surface should barely tremble. Working in three batches, lift the quenelles from the parchment with a wet thin spatula and lower them into the water. Poach for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until opaque, lightly springy, and 165°F (74°C) at the centre. Drain them on a lint-free towel. If the water boils and the grooves begin to blur, remove the pan from the heat and add a splash of cold water before continuing with the next batch.

   A rolling boil toughens the forcemeat and batters away the grooves. Gentle poaching keeps the quenelles tender and their ridges neat.
6. 6

   Separate the rice

   Bring 4 cups of the water and 2 teaspoons of the cooking salt to a lively simmer. Add the rinsed rice and poach it like pasta until tender but unbroken, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain immediately, rinse briefly under hot water to remove loose starch, and spread the rice over a clean towel to dry. If the grains cling together, rinse them once more under hot water and drain well. Measure exactly 4 level tablespoons of cooked rice for the soup; every grain should remain distinct and separate.

7. 7

   Green the asparagus

   Prepare a bowl of ice and cold water. Bring the remaining 2 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of cooking salt to a boil, add the asparagus tips, and blanch until vivid green and just tender, 60 to 90 seconds for slender tips or up to 2 minutes for thicker ones. Transfer them directly to the ice bath, then drain and pat them thoroughly dry. Measure exactly 4 tablespoons for the tureen.

8. 8

   Assemble at the table

   Reheat the strained consommé gently until its surface quivers, without letting it roll at a boil. Warm a 3-quart soup tureen with hot water, empty it, and dry it well. Arrange all 36 drained quenelles, the 4 tablespoons of asparagus tips, and the 4 tablespoons of separate rice grains in the tureen. Pour the consommé over them and serve at once, dividing the garnishes evenly among the bowls. The broth stays clear because nothing has been allowed to cook in it at the finish. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The formula begins with finished chicken consommé because that is its foundation, not an incidental ingredient. Make and clarify it ahead, then chill it so every trace of fat can be lifted cleanly from the surface.
• •Use small pearl tapioca, not instant tapioca or large boba pearls. Poach it completely before measuring the six cooked tablespoons; the source ratio is three tablespoons of poached tapioca for every quart of consommé.
• •Keep the chicken, egg white, cream, processor bowl, and blade properly cold. A smooth quenelle is a cold emulsion, c'est la même grammaire as every forcemeat in the canon.
• •Fresh, tight asparagus tips give the finest colour and texture. Outside their season, good frozen asparagus tips are the honest preserved choice; blanch them from frozen for only 20 to 30 seconds, then drain them thoroughly.
• •Serve this as a first course with a dry Champagne or Crémant. The wine's freshness suits the delicate chicken and asparagus without bullying the consommé.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the chicken consommé up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it, or freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw it slowly and remove every speck of set fat before binding it with tapioca.
• •The chicken forcemeat can be mixed up to 6 hours ahead and kept covered over ice in the refrigerator. The quenelles may be poached one day ahead, cooled promptly, and refrigerated in a shallow covered container.
• •Blanch the asparagus and poach the rice up to 4 hours ahead. Dry them carefully and refrigerate them in separate covered containers so neither one clouds or colours the other.
• •The tapioca-bound consommé may be strained one day ahead. Chill it promptly and reheat gently; its natural gelatin may set in the cold, but it will liquefy again as it warms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)