Potage Sarah Bernhardt

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp cheesecloth
• •Piping bag with ½-inch (13 mm) open-star tip
• •Wide 3-quart saucepan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •2-quart soupière

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the crayfish butter

   Pulse the crushed crayfish shells in a food processor until they resemble coarse gravel. Add the softened butter and pulse again to make a brick-red paste. Scrape it into a small saucepan and cook over very gentle heat for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the butter turns coral-orange and smells sweetly of shellfish without browning. Pass it through a fine sieve lined with damp cheesecloth, pressing firmly, then strain once more without pressing so no shell grit remains. Let the butter cool until soft but no longer liquid, and measure 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) for the forcemeat. Chill any remainder for another sauce.

   Keep the heat low. Scorched shell tastes bitter and cannot be hidden by the consommé; coral color and a sweet marine aroma are your signals to strain.
2. 2

   Build the chicken forcemeat

   Chill the food processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Pulse the cold chicken with the salt until it becomes a fine, tacky paste, then add the egg white and process just until smooth. With the motor running, pour in 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 90 g) of the cold cream in a thin stream, followed by the measured crayfish butter in small pieces. Stop as soon as the mixture is smooth and faintly coral. Press it through a fine-mesh sieve for the satin texture this garnish requires, cover directly against the surface, and chill for 30 minutes.

   The forcemeat must stay cold enough to hold its emulsion. If butter begins shining separately around the blade, stop, chill the bowl for 10 minutes, then pulse in 1 tablespoon of the reserved cream. Ça se rattrape.

   Poach a teaspoon of forcemeat before shaping the batch. If it is firm and springy rather than tender, fold in the remaining reserved cream a teaspoon at a time; if it spreads, chill it longer.
3. 3

   Shape and poach quenelles

   Set the Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) nearby if you have one; it is only a model for the small grooved silhouette and never enters the soup. Fit a piping bag with a ½-inch (13 mm) open-star tip and fill it with the cold forcemeat. Heat 3 cups (710 ml / 710 g) of the consommé in a wide saucepan until it barely trembles, about 180°F (82°C). Working in four batches, pipe 40 small fluted mounds directly into the liquid, cutting each free with a wet knife. Poach for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until gently puffed and 165°F (74°C) at the center. Lift them with a slotted spoon and drain on a clean lint-free towel.

   If the first quenelle feathers at its edges, the consommé is too hot or the forcemeat is too warm. Pull the pan from the heat, skim away the fragments, chill the piping bag for 10 minutes, and continue at a lower tremble.
4. 4

   Poach the marrow rounds

   Cut the cold marrow cylinders crosswise into 24 penny-sized rounds, each about ¾ inch (2 cm) wide and ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Lower the poaching consommé to about 170°F (77°C), add the marrow, and poach for 60 to 90 seconds, just until the rounds look glossy and supple while still holding their shape. Lift them immediately and drain beside the quenelles. Pass the poaching consommé through fresh damp cheesecloth. If it looks cloudy, let it stand for 5 minutes and filter it again without squeezing; sacrifice the last spoonful of sediment rather than carrying it into the tureen.

5. 5

   Prepare the final garnish

   Blanch the asparagus tips in boiling water for 45 to 60 seconds, until bright green and barely tender, then cool them in ice water and dry them thoroughly. Cut the black truffle julienne-fashion, meaning into fine match-shaped rods, and measure exactly 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 20 g). Keep the quenelles, marrow, asparagus, and truffle separate and well drained. Water clinging to any garnish dilutes the consommé and dulls its clarity.

6. 6

   Poach the tapioca

   Combine the untouched consommé with the strained poaching consommé, then add enough of the reserved cup to measure exactly 8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg). Bring it to a full boil in a clean saucepan. Sprinkle in the tapioca in a thin rain while stirring, lower the heat immediately, and poach gently for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring from the bottom every few minutes. The pearls are ready when nearly translucent, with only a faint pinprick remaining at their centers, and the consommé should retain a light, flowing body. If a clump forms, lift the pan from the heat and tease it apart with a fork; hard whisking only clouds the broth. If the soup tightens too far, loosen it with a little remaining hot consommé, never water.

7. 7

   Fill the soupière

   Warm a 2-quart soupière with hot water, empty it, and dry it well. Arrange the drained quenelles and marrow rounds across the bottom, then scatter over the truffle julienne and asparagus tips. Taste the tapioca consommé for seasoning, bring it back to a decisive boil for a few seconds, and pour it at once over the garnish. Stir once very gently from the bottom before ladling so each serving receives five quenelles, three marrow rounds, truffle, and asparagus. Bring the soupière straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Begin with consommé clear enough to read a spoon through and flavorful enough to serve alone. The stockpot was brigade scaffolding, not a demand that you simmer bones on the day of the party; make and clarify the consommé ahead, or buy an excellent prepared chicken consommé and correct its strength by gentle reduction.
• •Frozen whole cooked crayfish are the classical pantry's honest answer when fresh ones aren't available. Thaw them in the refrigerator and dry the shells before making the butter. Shrimp or lobster butter will make a pleasant quenelle, but the flavor changes and the dish is no longer exact.
• •Ask the butcher for intact marrow cylinders rather than canoe-cut bones. Marrow softens quickly once sliced, so keep it very cold and use a thin sharp knife wiped clean between cuts.
• •A good preserved black truffle is preferable to a tired fresh one outside its season. Drain and dry it before cutting; very black means a ripe, dark truffle, never one dyed for effect.
• •Pour a dry Champagne or a taut white Burgundy. The wine needs enough freshness to meet the marrow and crayfish butter without shouting over the consommé.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken consommé may be made and clarified up to 2 days ahead. Chill it promptly, covered, and remove any set surface fat before reheating.
• •The crayfish butter may be made up to 3 days ahead and kept chilled. Let the measured portion soften slightly before incorporating it into the cold forcemeat.
• •The forcemeat may be mixed up to 6 hours ahead. The quenelles may be poached up to 4 hours ahead, chilled promptly, and held covered; the boiling tapioca consommé reheats them in the tureen.
• •Blanch the asparagus and cut the truffle up to 2 hours ahead. Cut and poach the marrow no more than 1 hour before serving, then keep the rounds cold and covered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)