Chicken Consommé

A consommé is one of those cool things that I know how to do but never make. It’s just a bad-ass technique to know, with a relentlessly perfect end product, so I may as well pass it along. A consommé is essentially an ultra-clarified stock, one that has had every trace of impurity removed through a very simple process. The result is a golden and shimmery soup that is perfectly clear and will catch the light, and for that reason, is often served alone, without the addition of any solids (which might introduce other elements back in and cloud the liquid, ruining the effect). I often picture consommé-eaters as wizened, stingy, widowers living in England, who live joyless lives and slurp while they eat. And since I rarely sit down to eat a purified, crystalline bowl of fortified broth, it’s just not in the regular rotation. At No. 9 Park, where I worked for an intense 9 months, I had a crab salad at my station that was accompanied by a consommé of sorts – I began by making a crab consommé, then added powdered gelatin and poured it into a sheet pan so it was about a half-inch thick. After letting it set in the refrigerator, I stamped out different shapes using tiny cookie cutters, and laid those on the plate next to the salad. (I alternated them with a similarly presented reduction of blood orange.) The result was a shimmering array of crab-essence droplets that melted in your mouth. Pretty cool, though hardly worth the effort.

The technique of creating a consommé can be summarized thus: fortify a stock by boiling it with proteins and aromatics, and throw in a curveball by adding a good deal of egg whites. As the stock comes up to temperature, the egg whites begin to congeal, and in doing so, they trap not only the elements you’ve added, but also every other spec of impurity or fat that was suspended in the stock. The egg whites form what’s known as a raft at the top of the pot, and as it cooks, the impurities float to the surface and become trapped in this raft. You then discard the raft (along with the impurities), filter the stock, and there you have it: perfection in a bowl. To make sure that they all become trapped, they have to be tiny, so run the vegetables through the food processor (or grinder, if you have one) and make sure to use ground meat as your protein.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts homemade chicken stock
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 6 oz minced or ground onion
• 3 oz minced or ground carrot
• 3 oz minced or ground celery
• 6 egg whites
• 1 bouquet garni

Directions:

Begin by separating your egg whites and placing them in a large bowl. Using a whisk, give them a few turns so that they’re not whipped, but are thoroughly mixed and homogenous. Add the ground chicken and mirepoix, and stir thoroughly with your whisk to combine.

Place the chicken stock in a large pot and set on medium-high heat; add the egg white mixture and stir to combine. Continue to heat the mixture, stirring frequently. It’s not a bad idea to monitor the temperature with a meat thermometer; if I remember correctly, egg whites congeal at 161 degrees. As it begins to approach this temperature, back off the heat and watch the raft form.

As the raft begins to form, create a center whole in the exact middle of the pot by poking and gently stirring in small circles with the bottom of a ladle. While it’s forming, the heat should be no higher than medium (depending on your pot and your stove, it may need to be lower than this). The raft will not form if the contents of the pot are roiling too violently, so make sure you’re moving gently and deliberately at this point.

Once the mixture is simmering, you should have a bagel-shaped raft floating at the top of your pot. It should extend to the edges and will be a couple inches thick. You can drop the bouquet garni down through the center hole; secure it to the handle of the pot with butcher’s twine if you like.

Simmer the consommé for 1.5 hours, basting the raft every 10 to 15 minutes or so. As you see loose solids floating around in the center, lift them out along with some liquid with a ladle, then pour them over the edges of the raft so the solids are trapped and the liquid filters back through.

When it is finished, use a combination of spoons and tongs to remove the raft as gently as possible. Then pass the consummé through a fine mesh strainer lined with a cheese cloth. I like to go one extra step and strain it through a coffee filter.

Serve with your choice of garnish (keep them delicate) or reserve for another use.