Consommé au Fumet de Perdreau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small roasting pan with rack
• •6-quart heavy stockpot
• •Sturdy kitchen shears
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine chinois
• •Fine muslin or lint-free straining cloth
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the partridges

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Dry the partridges thoroughly and rub their skins with the softened butter. Set them breast-side up on a small rack in a roasting pan and roast until deeply bronzed, about 20 to 25 minutes, and until the thickest part of each breast reaches 165°F (74°C). Deep color matters because the roast character must carry through two quarts of broth; pale birds give a timid fumet.

   Use the smallest pan that holds the birds without crowding. A broad empty pan scorches their precious juices before you can recover them.
2. 2

   Reserve the fillets

   Rest the birds for 10 minutes, then lift off the breast fillets in whole pieces and reserve them for a cold entrée, as the source preparation allows. Chill them promptly in a covered container. Cut the remaining legs, wings, backs, and breastbones into roughly 2-inch (5 cm) sections with sturdy kitchen shears, and save every browned roasting juice. Break the joints cleanly rather than crushing the bones into splinters.

3. 3

   Build the clarification

   Prepare the Consommé à l’Essence de Cailles (No. 618) exactly according to its own entry and scale it to finish at about 2 quarts, but omit its quails. When its cold clarification is assembled, fold in the chopped roast partridge frames and all their juices. Two birds for two finished quarts preserves the book's proportion exactly. Add no wine, herbs, or separate mirepoix here; the referenced preparation already governs the consommé, and the partridge must remain its single new perfume.

   The breast fillets stay out of the pot. Their delicate meat adds little that the browned frames cannot provide, and reserving them honors the source rather than wasting a second dish.
4. 4

   Clarify without boiling

   Begin with the pot cold and warm it gradually as the referenced method directs, stirring only during the early heating so nothing catches. Stop stirring once the proteins begin gathering into a raft. Open a small vent in the raft and hold the consommé at the faintest tremble until the liquid beneath looks bright and deeply amber. Never boil it. If the raft splits and the broth clouds, remove the pot from the heat for 5 minutes, let the fragments settle, then return it to the gentlest heat without stirring. If haze remains after straining, chill the broth and repeat the clarification stage with fresh quantities prescribed by Consommé à l’Essence de Cailles (No. 618). Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Strain without pressure

   Ladle the consommé carefully through a dampened fine cloth set inside a chinois, drawing liquid from beside the raft rather than dumping the pot. Do not press. Pressure forces fat and fine particles through the cloth and undoes the clarification. Let the last sediment remain behind, however tempting that final ladleful looks. Skim the surface with clean kitchen paper if any beads of fat remain; the finished broth should gleam without wearing an oily film.

6. 6

   Serve the consommé

   Warm the strained consommé gently without letting it boil, then taste and correct the seasoning already established by the referenced preparation. Pour it into warmed consommé cups with no garnish to interrupt its clarity. It should be amber, intensely scented with roast partridge, and light enough to invite the next course. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Frozen whole partridge is an honest choice when fresh game is unavailable. Thaw the birds slowly in the refrigerator, unwrap them, and dry them very well before roasting; surface moisture steals the browning that makes the fumet.
• •Do not replace the partridges with pheasant or chicken and keep the same name. This entry's identity lies in its precise bird and proportion. If partridge cannot be found, make Consommé à l’Essence de Cailles (No. 618) on its own.
• •Dampen the straining cloth before the broth touches it. A dry cloth drinks the first clear ladleful and can lend the consommé a dusty taste.
• •The reserved breast fillets are not leftovers. Chill them within two hours, then use them the following day in a cold entrée with a restrained mustard vinaigrette or a little aspic.

Advance Preparation

• •The partridges may be roasted and dismantled earlier the same day. Refrigerate the breast fillets and chopped frames separately, adding the cold frames when the clarification is assembled.
• •The finished consommé is excellent made one day ahead. Chill it rapidly, remove any set fat from the surface, and reheat it gently without boiling.
• •Store the finished consommé covered in the refrigerator for up to three days, or freeze it for up to two months. Thaw it slowly and pass it through damp muslin again if freezing has left fine sediment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)