Consommé Olga

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •12-inch wide sauté pan with lid
• •Sharp chef's knife and stable cutting board
• •Fine-mesh strainer and clean closely woven cloth
• •2½ to 3-quart soup tureen

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the julienne

   Cut the celeriac, leek whites, and outer red-orange carrot flesh into julienne, matchsticks about 4 cm long and no thicker than 2 mm. Cut away the carrots' pale cores and save them for another pot. Keep the salted-gherkin julienne separate. The rods need not look machine-made, but they must be thin and even enough to become tender together while retaining their shape.

   Cut each vegetable first into thin planks, stack only two or three planks, then cut the rods. A tall stack slips, crushes the leek, and gives thick pieces beside thin ones.
2. 2

   Warm the consommé

   Reserve 1 cup (240 ml) of the consommé for the garnish. Put the remaining 7 cups (1.66 L) in a clean saucepan and bring it slowly to a bare simmer. Keep the surface calm and skim away any beads of fat. If agitation emulsifies the fat and dulls the clarity, pull the pan from the heat, let it settle for five minutes, then strain it once through a damp, closely woven cloth into a clean pan. Ça se rattrape. Never whisk a consommé.

3. 3

   Étuver the vegetables

   Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan over low heat without letting it color. Add the celeriac, leek, and carrot julienne, turn them gently through the butter, cover, and étuver, stew gently in their own moisture, for 6 to 8 minutes. They should soften without browning. If the butter begins to color or the leek catches, lift the pan from the heat, add a spoonful of the reserved consommé, and lower the flame before continuing.

4. 4

   Glaze the julienne

   Add the reserved consommé to the vegetables in three additions, letting each reduce almost completely before adding the next. Cook uncovered at a gentle simmer until the vegetables are tender but distinct and the last consommé has reduced to a glossy coating rather than a puddle, about 12 to 18 minutes. If the liquid disappears before the celeriac is tender, add hot consommé from the saucepan one spoonful at a time. If the vegetables soften before the liquid reduces, lift them out, reduce the broth alone, then fold them back through the glaze.

5. 5

   Fill the tureen

   Warm a 2½ to 3-quart soup tureen with hot water, then empty and dry it. Place the glazed vegetable julienne in the bottom and scatter over the salted-gherkin julienne. Taste a gherkin first; if it is fiercely salty, rinse the cut julienne briefly in cold water and dry it well before adding. The gherkin stays uncooked so its clean saline bite remains separate from the buttery vegetables.

6. 6

   Finish with port

   Bring the consommé back just to a bare simmer, then take it completely away from the fire and wait for the surface to become still. Stir in the room-temperature port and pour the consommé immediately over the two juliennes. Do not return it to the heat. If it boils briefly after the port goes in, remove it at once and restore the lost top note with no more than 1 tablespoon of fresh port. Ladle into warm bowls while the vegetables remain defined. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This recipe begins with excellent ordinary consommé already clarified and seasoned. The grand kitchen kept that foundation ready; at home, make and chill it in advance or draw from a carefully frozen batch. Ordinary boxed broth is not the same component and will not acquire consommé's clarity merely by being strained.
• •Choose a sound port you would willingly pour into a glass. A young ruby port gives the clearest fruit and garnet color; tawny port makes a rounder, nuttier soup. Either works, but keep the eight-to-one proportion and never use salted cooking wine.
• •Salted gherkins are brined with salt rather than dominated by vinegar. They provide the dish's necessary sharp, saline interruption. Vinegar-heavy cornichons make a more acidic soup, and the difference is not invisible.
• •A proper julienne matters more than ornamental knife work. Even rods cook evenly and sit lightly on the spoon; thick batons turn this precise consommé into vegetable soup.
• •Serve Consommé Olga as a first course before roasted meat or game. Keep the following course savory and direct, because the port has already supplied the meal's sweet wine note.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare and clarify the ordinary consommé up to three days ahead, chill it promptly, and remove every trace of set surface fat before reheating. It may also be frozen in measured containers for up to three months.
• •Cut the vegetables up to six hours ahead. Hold the celeriac in cold water to prevent discoloration, keep the leek and carrot beneath a barely damp cloth, then drain and dry everything thoroughly before it meets the butter.
• •The vegetable julienne may be butter-glazed earlier the same day and chilled separately from the broth. Rewarm it gently with a spoonful of consommé before placing it in the tureen.
• •Keep the port and salted-gherkin julienne separate until service. Once assembled, reheat leftovers below a simmer so the port retains some fragrance, though the gherkins will gradually lose their crispness.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)