Consommé à l’Essence de Cailles

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rimmed roasting tray
• •Sturdy kitchen shears
• •Heavy cleaver or flat meat mallet
• •Heavy mortar and pestle
• •6-quart (5.7-liter) heavy pot
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine chinois or mesh strainer
• •Lint-free filtering cloth or cheesecloth
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the quail

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Rub the quail all over with the softened butter and season them evenly with the measured salt. Arrange them without touching on a rimmed roasting tray and roast for 15 to 18 minutes, turning the tray once, until the skin is deeply golden and the thickest part of a thigh reaches 165°F (74°C). Rest for 10 minutes. Browning matters because pale birds give a pale, timid essence, but don't burn the butter or the finished consommé will carry its bitterness.

   Choose quail of similar size so the fillets finish together. The breasts are destined for another cold dish, so cook them safely but don't leave the birds in the oven after the thighs are done.
2. 2

   Reserve and pound

   While the birds remain warm, lift the two breast fillets neatly from each quail. Place them in a shallow covered container and refrigerate promptly for a cold entrée; they do not return to this consommé. Cut the legs, wings, skin, and carcasses into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces with sturdy kitchen shears. Crack the bones with a cleaver or flat meat mallet, then pound everything in a heavy mortar, working in batches, until the flesh is mashed and every bone is well fractured. Spread the pounded quail on a tray and chill it until completely cold.

   A domestic food processor should not be asked to chew intact bones. Crack them first and use the mortar or mallet; the aim is abundant exposed surface, not bone powder.
3. 3

   Build the cold raft

   Loosen 4 egg whites with a whisk in a 6-quart (5.7-liter) heavy pot, beating only until fluid rather than foamy. Mix in the thoroughly chilled pounded quail, then gradually stir in all 10 cups of very cold consommé. Scrape the bottom and corners so no pocket of egg white remains. The mixture must be cold before heating; warm proteins seize in scattered clumps instead of forming one useful clarification raft.

4. 4

   Raise it slowly

   Set the pot over medium-low heat and stir continuously with a flat wooden spoon, reaching across the entire bottom, while the consommé warms over 20 to 30 minutes. Small curds will form, join, and finally rise as a single raft. The instant it floats and the liquid begins to tremble, stop stirring. Lower the heat and open a 1-inch (2.5 cm) chimney through the center with the spoon. If the pot threatens to boil, pull it completely off the heat until calm, then return it over a gentler flame.

5. 5

   Hold a bare tremble

   Keep the consommé between 185°F and 194°F (85°C and 90°C) for 40 to 45 minutes. A few quiet bubbles may rise through the chimney, but the surface must never roll. Do not stir, prod, or baste the raft. During this bare tremble the pounded roasted quail gives up its essence while the egg white and meat trap fat and sediment; shortening this stage leaves flavor in the raft instead of the bowl.

6. 6

   Filter without pressure

   Dampen a lint-free cloth or four layers of cheesecloth and use it to line a fine chinois or mesh strainer set over a clean pot. Ladle the clear liquid gently through the chimney and into the lined strainer, leaving the raft undisturbed as long as possible. Let gravity do the work. Never squeeze or press the solids, since pressure drives their sediment straight through the cloth. Blot away any isolated beads of fat with a clean strip of absorbent kitchen paper. If the consommé remains hazy, don't serve it resignedly. Ça se rattrape. Cool it quickly over an ice bath, whisk the 2 reserved whites with 1 cup of the cold consommé, stir that mixture into the batch, and repeat the slow rise. Stop stirring when the new raft forms, hold it at a bare tremble for 15 minutes, then pass it through fresh damp cloth.

7. 7

   Warm and serve

   Warm the strained consommé gently to 175°F to 180°F (80°C to 82°C), without allowing it to boil. Taste before adding any salt, since a prepared consommé may already be perfectly seasoned and the quail has concentrated it further. Pour 1 cup into each warmed consommé cup, leaving the broth entirely clear and ungarnished. The reserved fillets belong to their own cold entrée, not floating here. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This entry begins with finished plain consommé, exactly as the classical kitchen did. It should be gelatin-rich, restrained in its aromatics, completely cold, and stripped of visible fat before the quail enters; strongly herbed broth will bully the birds.
• •Ten quail look extravagant because the source ratio is extravagant. Keep it. Two roasted birds for every pint of starting consommé is the identity of the preparation, not brigade scaffolding that can be cut away.
• •Use a clean cloth rinsed free of detergent fragrance. Consommé exposes every careless flavor, including perfumed laundry soap, with ruthless efficiency.
• •Serve the consommé in warmed cups at the start of dinner, with no floating herbs and no decorative pieces of quail. A dry Champagne alongside has enough freshness for the rich game perfume without covering it.

Advance Preparation

• •The plain consommé may be prepared and defatted up to 3 days ahead. Keep it covered and very cold; a firm gel when chilled is welcome evidence of a strong foundation.
• •The quail may be roasted, stripped, and pounded 1 day ahead. Refrigerate the pounded carcasses and reserved breast fillets separately in shallow covered containers, then build the raft only when both quail and consommé are thoroughly cold.
• •The finished consommé may be clarified up to 2 days before serving. Cool it promptly over an ice bath, refrigerate it covered, lift away any fat that sets on top, and reheat it once over gentle heat.
• •Keep the reserved cooked fillets refrigerated and use them in a cold entrée within 2 days. Their absence from the soup is deliberate economy, not waste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)