Consommé (con-sommer, translated as “cook for a long time”) is a clear, clarified broth originally from France. It is obtained from a rich, strong broth, most often chicken or beef, sometimes vegetable. I will tell you how to prepare a classic consommé, the recipe of which is quite adaptable to home cooking, if you understand the technology.

Secrets of transparent consommé. How is broth clarified?

Meat, bones and even paws are boiled for a long time with spices and herbs, then filtered. For clarification, a so-called guy is introduced, a protein solution - an extract from raw meat, bones, and egg whites. When heated, the protein mass coagulates and forms flakes, which capture particles suspended in the broth, resulting in its clarification.

You can lighten the broth with a mixture of raw meat and proteins. To do this, low-fat cutlet meat (beef for beef broth or chicken fillet for chicken broth) is passed through a meat grinder. The resulting minced meat is poured with cold water in a 1:1 ratio, salt is added and left in the cold for 1 hour, then the egg white is added and everything is mixed. Pieces of this mixture are placed in the broth and boiled - as soon as the “meatballs” float to the surface, they are removed, and the clarified broth is filtered.

The second option for extracting is pure egg whites. They perform the function of a guy; when the protein gets into boiling water, it coagulates, forming large flakes on the surface. This way it draws out all the foam from the broth and lightens it. This option is simple and for this reason popular, so today I will describe in detail how to prepare chicken consommé with an egg pull.

Ingredients

• chicken on the bone 500 g
• onions 1 pc.
• carrots 1 pc.
• parsnip root 100 g
• black peppercorns 4 pcs.
• bay leaf 1 pc.
• parsley 5 sprigs
• egg white 2 pcs.
• salt 0.5 tsp.

How to prepare consommé

1. To prepare consommé, I use chicken on the bone - most often these are two soup sets. Well, if you have homemade chicken, it is just perfect for the broth. I remove the skin from the meat so that the consommé is not too greasy. Then I place the chicken pieces on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees.
2. 
   By baking, the broth will be richer and more tasty, with a beautiful golden color.
3. 
   I transfer the browned bird, along with the released meat juice and fat, into a saucepan. I add onion, cut into 4 parts, as well as peeled and chopped carrots into large rings. I put the roots, bay leaf, pepper and parsley tied into a bunch.
4. 
   I fill it with cold water so that it completely covers the contents of the pan (it took me 1.5 liters). I put the saucepan on the fire and let the broth boil. Skim off the foam and add salt to taste.
5. 
   Then I reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for about 2 hours. You can remove the lid, then the broth will boil down more. If there is not enough liquid to cover the meat, it can be added at any time.
6. 
   I strain the finished broth through a colander to get rid of pieces of meat and vegetables. As you can see, it turned out cloudy and opaque.
7. 
   Now comes the most crucial moment of preparing consommé - clarification of the broth. I use egg whites, lightly beaten with a fork, as a pull. But first you need to cool the broth to 50-60 degrees. I pour it back into the saucepan and leave it to cool for 30 minutes.
8. 
   Then I add egg whites to it (at the rate of 1 white per 250 ml of liquid), lightly beaten with a fork. Mix well. The liquid will instantly become cloudy and dirty in color.
9. 
   I put the broth with a drawer on low heat. After 20 minutes, foam forms on the surface - this is the reaction of the egg white, it curls and collects all the flakes from the broth, making it transparent.
10. 
    Carefully remove all the foam. Then I filter through several layers of cheesecloth and pour the consommé into plates. The broth can be served either hot or cold. If it has already hardened in the refrigerator, you can reheat it without bringing it to a boil. Consommé can be served in soup bowls, broth cups, and even glasses. The soup garnish can be as simple as chopped boiled vegetables and toasted croutons, or more complex: chopped celery and leeks, pancakes, poached eggs, etc.

In this article you will learn what consommé is, how to prepare it, and what to eat it with.

The word "consommé" is French. And in classic French cuisine it meant clarified chicken or beef broth.

Modern cuisines of the world have slightly transformed this dish, and now it is a strong, highly salted broth of meat, vegetables, and even fruits, clarified with egg white.

And yet only in meat broth it will work out real consommé, but for example, on vegetables the broth will be called loret, based on crayfish - navarin, with the addition of cheese - parmesan.

Consommé, classic recipe

Consommé classic

Classic consommé recipe getting ready from lean young beef or chicken.

To make the consommé transparent need to know some secrets:

1. Used to clarify broth guy ropes: from ground lean meat and egg whites, from grated carrots with whites, from egg whites alone, from poultry and game bones, from fish caviar along with whipped whites.
2. Meat guy. Meat without fat is passed through a meat grinder, diluted with water 1:1, salt is added, kept in the cold for 1-2 hours, then egg whites are added and everything is mixed, and then everything is added to the broth.
3. Carrot guy. To lighten 1 liter of broth, you need to mix 100 g of grated carrots with the whites of 1-2 eggs. The guy is ready.
4. All bones are suitable for consommé, except the vertebral bones. They contain the spinal cord, which is difficult to lighten.
5. To make the broth transparent and, in addition, a beautiful brown hue, you need carrots, parsley and celery root, bake the onion in the oven until brown, and add to the broth.
6. To lighten the broth, cool it to a temperature of 50-60°C, add a draw and cook over low heat until it sinks to the bottom, then filter.
7. By clarifying the broth, we thereby saturate it with useful components that are found in these products.
8. Many consommé recipes call for bouquet garni. This bouquet includes the following greens: 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 5 stalks of parsley, several leaves of basil, 1 stalk of celery.

Classic beef consommé

Recipe:

For the consommé you will need:

• 2.0-2.5 liters of water
• 0.5 kg beef meat with bone
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 medium carrot
• 2 large onions
• 1 parsley root
• 2-3 tbsp. spoons of some vegetable oil

For guying you will need:

• 300-400 g minced beef
• 2-3 raw egg whites

1. In a pan of broth for 4-6 people, pour 2.0-2.5 liters of water into it, put a beef bone in there, and let it cook.
2. Until the broth boils, turn on high heat, and when it starts to boil, remove the foam and reduce the heat to low burning.
3. Coarsely chop the celery stalks, medium carrots, onions, parsley roots and fry everything in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil until the vegetables are golden.
4. Throw the vegetables into the pan with the meat bone, add salt, and cook for 2 hours, then turn off and let stand.
5. After 0.5-1 hour, remove the fat from the top of the broth, which has settled, and boil for another half hour.
6. We remove the broth from the stove, throw out the vegetables and bones, and strain the broth itself.
7. Now let’s lighten the broth by adding ground raw beef and raw egg whites to it, cook for several minutes until the minced meat is cooked.
8. We take the minced meat out of the broth along with the cooked whites; we won’t need it anymore, but this minced meat can be added to porridge or an omelette.
9. Strain the broth through cheesecloth folded in several layers, it turns out transparent and golden, add chopped green parsley and dill to it, you can serve with meatballs.

Chicken consommé with garnish

There are a lot of side dishes for consommé. They were even divided into groups.

TO first group These include side dishes that are served separately on a plate with the consomme. These are small pies, pies, kulebyaki, pies made from yeast, puff pastry with various fillings, profiteroles from choux pastry, croutons and croutons from a loaf.

Side dish for consomme - baked pies

For garnishes for consommé second group includes: meat, seafood and fish, boiled eggs, separately cooked vegetables, flour and cereal products.

This side dish is served in a deep plate, along with broth.

Consommé with garnish – egg “in a bag”

Chicken consommé with seafood garnish

Recipe:

For the chicken consommé you will need:

• 1 kg chicken bones with meat
• 1 chicken leg
• 2 liters of water
• 1 root each parsnip and parsley
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 medium sized carrot
• 1 stalk of celery
• 4-6 sprigs of green parsley and dill
• 4-5 pcs. black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt to your taste

For guying you will need:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp. spoon of tomato paste
• 1 carrot and medium-sized onion
• 1 leek
• 1 clove of garlic
• 5-7 sprigs of parsley
• meat from 1 chicken leg

For garnish you will need:

• 4-5 pcs. scallops
• 4-5 pcs. shrimp
• 100 g trout fillet

1. We cut the chicken into pieces, cut off the meat from the breast and put it in the refrigerator for other dishes, we only need pieces with bones and 1 leg.
2. Place the prepared pieces of chicken in a deep pan and bake in the oven at medium temperature for about half an hour, after this procedure the broth will be more tasty, rich and transparent.
3. Place the pieces of chicken from the mold into a saucepan, pour in the liquid released from the meat, add 2 liters of water and boil, periodically skimming off the foam.
4. Then add peeled and coarsely chopped parsnip and parsley roots, onion, carrot, celery stalk, peppercorns, salt, whole garlic cloves to the pan and cook for 2 hours, turning the heat down to low. If the water boils away and the vegetables and chicken end up on the surface, add more hot water.
5. Strain the broth through cheesecloth and cool.
6. Preparing the guy. Beat the whites, add tomato paste and mix, then add finely chopped carrots, onions cut in half, a small leek stalk, green parsley, chopped garlic, raw chicken leg meat cut into pieces.
7. Add the broth to the broth, put it on the fire, and boil, stirring often, otherwise the whites will stick to the walls of the pan.
8. Cook over low heat for 1.5 hours, removing the lid; during cooking, the guy will rise to the top in a dense layer, and the broth below will become transparent.
9. Strain the broth through cheesecloth in several layers.
10. After straining, we got a clear broth - consommé.
11. Preparing the side dish. Place raw white scallop meat, peeled shrimp, or a thin piece of raw trout into a soup plate, pour boiling consommé, sprinkle with green parsley and dill, serve with fresh, still warm bread.

Chicken consommé with sea fish garnish

Consommé with vegetables and zucchini

Consommé of vegetables and zucchini

Recipe:

For the vegetable and zucchini consommé you will need:

• 3 small zucchini
• juice of 1 lemon or 3 tbsp. spoons of wine vinegar
• 1 sprig basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp. tablespoons vegetable oil
• ground black pepper
• 0.5 cups cream

1. Cut small zucchini into cubes and boil in salted water for 3 minutes.
2. Pour over cold water, let it drain, and beat with a blender.
3. To the puree add lemon juice or wine vinegar, chopped basil leaves, chopped garlic, salt and ground black pepper, vegetable oil, you can add half a glass of cream.
4. Serve the zucchini and vegetable consommé in small bowls.

Consommé "Nelson"

Consommé "Nelson"

A light soup called Nelson comes from England.

Consommé "Nelson"

Recipe:

For the Nelson consommé you will need:

• 3 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 small celery root
• 6 glasses of water
• 5 bunches of green onions
• 1 PC. small onion
• 3 tbsp. spoons of butter
• 0.5 cups cream.

To garnish the Nelson consommé you will need:

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. spoon of water

1. We peel and cut potatoes, carrots, a small celery root, pour 6 glasses of water and set the vegetable broth to simmer.
2. Chop green onions and onions, fry in butter, pour in cream and simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Beat the broth with vegetables, onions and cream in a blender until smooth, pour into a saucepan and heat.
4. Break the raw egg onto a plate and add 1 tbsp. spoon of water, turn on the microwave and place the plate with the egg for 1-2 minutes.
5. Place an egg on a serving plate, pour in the hot puree soup - and the Nelson consommé is ready.

Asparagus consommé

Asparagus consommé with meatballs

Asparagus consommé is a light and healthy dish.

Asparagus and meatball consommé

Recipe:

For the asparagus consommé with meatballs you will need:

• 0.4-0.5 kg veal meat with bones
• 1.5 liters of water
• 250 g asparagus
• 1 tsp. spoon of sugar
• 20 g butter
• 4-5 sprigs of green parsley

For the meatballs and consomme you will need:

• 150 g chicken fillet
• 2-3 tbsp. spoons of cream or low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 tsp. spoon of starch
• ground black pepper
• 0.5 tsp. tablespoons lemon zest

1. Pour 1.5 liters of water over the veal bones until it boils, maintain high heat, remove the foam when it boils, turn the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Prepare the asparagus: wash it, trim off the hard ends, throw it into the broth, add sugar and butter, and cook for another 15 minutes.
3. Then we take out the asparagus that is unfit for food from the broth, throw it away, and put the peeled, cut into pieces asparagus into the broth and cook until tender, 15-20 minutes.
4. Cooking meatballs. Grind the chicken fillet, add cream or cottage cheese, starch, lemon zest, salt and pepper to the minced meat, beat everything with a blender.
5. We take the asparagus out of the broth, and strain the broth through cheesecloth 2 times.
6. We make small (the size of an olive) meatballs from the minced meat, cook in the broth for several minutes, serve in deep plates, sprinkled with parsley.
7. Meatballs can also be made from veal or use salmon, pike or shrimp fried in butter instead of meatballs.

Consommé with profiteroles

Consomme

This soup with profiteroles has been known in Russia for a long time. It was also served to Catherine the Second for lunch.

Consommé with profiteroles

Recipe:

For the consommé you will need:

• 0.5 kg beef meat with bones
• 2.5 liters of water
• 1 carrot
• 1 medium sized onion
• 0.5 kg beef fillet
• 4-5 sprigs of green parsley and dill

• 0.5 glasses of water
• 50 g margarine or butter
• pinch of salt
• 0.5 cups flour
• 2 eggs

1. Pour water over the beef bones and meat in a saucepan, let it boil, skim off the foam, add peeled vegetables (carrots, onions), add salt, and cook over low heat for 2 hours.
2. Remove from the heat, take out the vegetables, and add 0.5 kg of beef fillet, cut into pieces, a bay leaf, black peppercorns, into the broth and cook until the meat is ready.
3. We take the meat out of the broth and strain the broth through cheesecloth.
4. When serving, place pieces of meat on a plate, pour in broth, sprinkle with finely chopped herbs, and serve profiteroles separately on a plate.
5. Preparing profiteroles. In a saucepan with water, stir margarine or butter, salt, and heat to a boil; when it boils, gradually add flour and stir all the time.
6. Remove the dough from the heat, gradually add one egg at a time, beating, you will get a liquid dough, but it should not spread.
7. Using two spoons soaked in water, place the dough in small piles on a greased sheet.
8. We bake the profiteroles at a temperature of 200°C for about 20 minutes, without opening the door or knocking on it.
9. Let the baked profiteroles cool and be served.

Profiteroles are served separately on a plate with consomme.

Veal or beef consommé

Veal consommé with croutons

Veal consommé

Recipe:

For the veal consommé you will need:

• 800 g veal with bone
• 3 liters of water
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 pieces. black peppercorns
• 2-3 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil

For croutons for consomme you will need:

• 1 French loaf
• 0.5 teaspoon of aromatic seasoning for broth
• 1 tsp. spoon of olive oil
• 100 g hard cheese

1. Wash the veal with the bone, soak for half an hour, separate the meat from the bones.
2. Pour 3 liters of water over the meat and bone, boil, skim off the foam, add peeled carrots, onions, salt and bay leaves, black peppercorns, turn to low heat and cook until the meat is cooked.
3. We take everything out of the broth, throw away the vegetables and bones, leave the meat, and strain the broth.
4. Fry finely chopped onion and chopped carrots in vegetable oil until golden brown.
5. Preparing croutons for garnish. Cut the loaf into cubes, lay it out on a sheet, sprinkle with seasonings and salt, season with olive oil and put in the oven at medium temperature to dry, at the end sprinkle the crackers with hard grated cheese, wait until it melts, and turn off the oven.
6. Dip pieces of meat, fried onions and carrots into a clear broth.
7. Pour broth into a soup bowl and add croutons before serving.

Consommé in Italian, Milanese

Milanese consommé

Milanese consommé

Recipe:

For Milanese consommé you will need:

• 1 chicken
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 small celery roots
• 1 tbsp. spoon of olive oil
• 1 leek
• 4-5 leaves of green salad
• 1 large tomato
• 1 cucumber
• 50 g pasta
• 2-3 branches of parsley and dill

For profiteroles for consomme you will need:

• 4 tbsp. spoons of water
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. spoon of sugar
• 2 tbsp. spoons of butter
• 4 tbsp. spoons of flour
• 2 eggs

For minced meat, to stuff profiteroles you will need:

• meat from 1 chicken on which the broth was cooked
• 3 tbsp. spoons of milk
• 1 raw yolk

1. From 1 chicken, cut into pieces, 1 carrot, 1 celery, onion, salt, cook the broth, when the broth is cooked, take everything out of it: throw away the bones and vegetables, and we will use the meat for minced meat. Strain the broth.
2. Finely chop 1 piece of carrot and celery root and fry lightly in olive oil.
3. Finely chop a leek stalk, a few leaves of green lettuce, and a large tomato into pieces.
4. Cut 1 cucumber into cubes.
5. Boil long pasta, wash, cut into small pieces 1 cm long.
6. Bring the broth with all the ingredients to a boil and pour into soup bowls, sprinkle with parsley and dill, and serve the stuffed profiteroles separately on a pie plate.
7. Preparing profiteroles. Mix water, a pinch of salt, sugar, butter and boil, gradually add flour and quickly knead the dough so that there are no lumps, when the dough thickens, remove from heat, cool slightly and add one egg at a time. After each addition of eggs, knead the dough until smooth. Load the dough into a pastry syringe and release small balls or sticks onto the sheet. Bake over medium heat for about 20 minutes without opening the oven.
8. Cooking minced chicken. We pass the boiled chicken meat that remains after preparing the broth through a meat grinder, add milk, raw yolk, salt, beat well and rub through a sieve.
9. Cut the cooled profiteroles on the side, fill with minced meat, place on a sheet and place in a hot oven for 1-2 minutes.

Parisian egg consommé

Parisian egg consommé

Consommé with vegetables and egg Parisian style

Recipe:

This amount of broth is designed for 4 servings.

For Parisian consommé you will need:

• 800 g chicken wings and legs
• 2 carrots
• 2 small celery roots
• 1 parsley root
• 1 onion
• 2 liters of water
• 5-6 pcs. black peppercorns
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 2 egg whites
• 200 g cauliflower
• 100 g green beans
• 100 g green peas
• 2-3 sprigs of parsley and dill
• 4 eggs

1. From chicken wings and legs, 1 carrot, 1 celery root, onion, 2 liters of water, cook the broth, add salt at the end, add bay leaf and black pepper to the soup, let it simmer a little more, remove from heat, lighten with whipped egg whites, let it brew and filter.
2. Take the cauliflower, separate it into inflorescences, cut the pods of green beans and green peas into small pieces, also cut into strips 1 carrot, one root of celery and parsley.
3. Take a separate pan, pour a small amount of broth into it and cook all the vegetables separately until tender, cool them.
4. In a separate pan, boil water, drop 4 raw eggs into boiling water one at a time and cook “in a bag” (4-6 minutes), and then cool in cold water.
5. Place boiled vegetables, shelled eggs, chopped parsley and dill in a soup plate, and pour hot clear broth. Separately serve French baguette toast sprinkled with Parmesan.

What do you eat with consommé prepared according to the classic recipe?

You can serve fried mushrooms separately on a plate with the classic consommé

There are many soup side dishes for consommé, one of them is croutons.

Small choux pastry pies - profiteroles

The French came up with many soup side dishes for consommé, which have already become a tradition.

Here are some of them:

• "Brunoise" - celery and leeks cut into strips
• “Carolin” - pancakes cut into strips
• Poached eggs
• Boiled or fried mushrooms
• Pasta and other flour products
• Fresh herbs

Typically, these side dishes are served on separate plates.

• Classic consommé is also served with toast made from French baguette, toasted in the oven. These croutons are immersed in broth and sprinkled with herbs and grated cheese on top.
• Also, according to the classic recipe, profiteroles are served with consomme - small custard pies with or without filling. Profiteroles are filled with minced meat and pates made from meat, mushrooms, and fish.
• If the profiteroles are without filling, they are dipped into the broth or eaten as a bite. The filled profiteroles are served on a separate plate.

As you can see, preparing consommé is not very difficult; prepare consommé at home and arrange a holiday for yourself and your loved ones.

Video: Golden carp consommé – World of Warcraft Cooking Skill in life – World of Warcraft Cooking

Consomme(from French Con-sommer- cook for a long time) is a clarified strong broth made from beef (veal) or chicken. Most often, it is prepared in a “double” version, where the bone broth is first boiled, and then the meat itself or minced meat is boiled in it. Slightly forgotten, today consommé is again gaining its former popularity. So we invite you to try several recipes for such a transparent French soup.

Asparagus consommé

A light, aromatic consommé of asparagus with tender chicken meatballs definitely cannot be called trivial, so it is perfect as one of the components of a special menu.

Ingredients needed (for 4 servings):

– veal bone – 1 pc.
– asparagus (broken) – 250 g
– chicken fillet (chicken breast) – 150 g
– butter – 20 g
- cream (fat) or low-fat cottage cheese - 2-3 tbsp. l.
- sugar - a pinch
- starch - 1 tsp.
- salt, pepper (ground white, cayenne) - to taste
- lemon zest

Cooking method:

1. We start preparing our clear consommé soup with asparagus and chicken meatballs by placing the bone in 1.5 liters of salted water, bringing to a boil and cooking the broth for 20 minutes;

2. Now let's take care of the asparagus: wash it, peel it, cut off the hardened ends. Place all the asparagus trimmings and skins, along with sugar and butter, into the broth, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes;

3. using a slotted spoon, remove asparagus trimmings from the broth and place the peeled asparagus there, boil for another 15-20 minutes until tender;

4. Move on to the meatballs: grind the chicken meat, add cream or cottage cheese and starch, season with salt, pepper and add a little lemon zest. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly - preferably in a food processor or blender;

5. back to our broth: carefully remove the asparagus and strain the broth at least 2 times. Return the strained broth to the stove to reduce it a little;

6. then cut the boiled asparagus into pieces, form small (olive-sized) meatballs from the minced meat and add it all to the broth. We wait until it boils again, boil everything a little. At the end, you can add parsley to this French soup.

As meat for meatballs in this asparagus consommé, you can no less successfully use veal, as well as fish (salmon, pike). Shrimp, lightly fried in butter, can also serve as an excellent and delicious dressing for this French-style soup.

Chicken consommé

This consommé recipe is a great way to pamper yourself and your family with a soup with a delicate taste, delicate aroma and beautiful golden color.

Ingredients needed (for 7 eaters):

– chicken (small) – 2 pcs.
– chicken meat – 1 kg
– white roots (celery, parsnip, parsley) – 1 kg
– eggs – 3 pcs.
- greenery
- water - 6.5 tbsp

Cooking method:

1. Remove the fillet from clean and gutted poultry carcasses and set it aside;

2. place the carcasses in a saucepan, fill with 4 glasses of water, put on fire and let it boil three times;

3. remove the foam and scale, remove the chicken, and strain the broth;

4. reduce the heat to low and continue cooking our broth, adding lightly fried (separately from each other) roots and trimmed fillet;

5. Grind the chicken meat (in a blender or through a meat grinder), mix with egg whites and 1.5 glasses of water until smooth, then add a glass of hot water and pour everything into the boiling broth;

6. cover the pan (loosely) with a lid and cook for another 1.5 hours;

7. then take out the curled guy, strain the broth, bring to a boil again and turn off the heat.

Veal consommé

Such an appetizing veal consommé with pieces of croutons will not leave indifferent even those who are very cool about first courses.

Required ingredients:

– veal with bone – 800 g
- olive oil
- Bay leaf
- cheese (already grated) - 100 g
– loaf – 1 piece
– black peppercorns – 5 peas
– carrots and onions – 2 pieces of each vegetable
– water – 3 l
- salt, paprika, Italian herbs

Cooking method:

1. separate the meat from the bone: first, cut into several pieces, second, soak for half an hour;

2. then pour the meat and bones with water, bring to a boil, skim off the foam and throw in the peeled carrots and onions (one at a time), pepper, bay leaf and cook everything until tender (over low heat);

3. Remove and discard everything from the finished broth except the meat;

4. Fry the remaining finely chopped onion and diced carrots in oil until golden brown;

5. Prepare croutons in the oven: cut the loaf into cubes, place them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with oil, sprinkle with salt and seasonings and dry at 200C;

6. then sprinkle the crackers with cheese and leave in the oven until it melts;

7. Now return the meat to the broth, add fried onions and carrots.

Add crackers to this wonderful soup in portions, just before serving.

Sometimes cookbooks and other sources contain mention of a dish such as consommé. What it is? In classical cooking, consommé is a type of clear soup made from a rich, flavored broth that has been subsequently clarified. Egg whites are used to remove fat and sediment.

Beef consommé

What is it and how is it made? It's actually quite simple. Consommé is made by mixing organ meats with a combination of carrots, celery and onions, adding tomatoes and egg whites. The key to creating a high quality product is a generous boil.

The process of boiling over high heat combined with frequent stirring results in a cloudy layer on the surface, which then dissipates due to the presence of acid in the tomatoes. Eventually, solid particles begin to solidify on the surface of the broth, forming a so-called “raft”, the basis of which is the egg whites. As soon as this film begins to appear, the heating intensity must be reduced. Next, the consommé (classic recipe) is cooked over low heat until it acquires the desired taste. This process usually takes from 45 minutes to 1-1.5 hours.

Appearance and consistency

The resulting mixture is a clear liquid that is deep amber (for beef or veal consommé) or pale yellow (for poultry).

It is then carefully poured out of the pan and passed through a filter. To ensure maximum clarity, the consommé undergoes a lengthy cleaning process, after which all visible fat is removed from the surface.

Some housewives specifically put the dish in the refrigerator - at low temperatures, the remaining fat is released from the broth, which can be easily removed with gauze. Alternatively, the consommé can be placed in a wide, shallow container (such as a saute pan or large bowl) and wide strips of parchment paper placed along the surface. Small particles of remaining fat adhere to the parchment, leaving the consommé completely defatted.

Classic consommé is made from beef, with cartilage and tendons remaining on the meat due to the gelatin they contain, which enhances the richness of the soup's flavor. If beef or veal is used, drumstick meat is ideal because it contains very little fat but a lot of cartilage. Although this part of the carcass is considered undesirable for most other soups, it is almost essential for consommé. The classic recipe also involves chopping meat during cooking.

Peculiarities

Consommé is usually served hot because it tends to cool faster than other soups, forming a jelly. The dish is most often served with dressing, which can be different. Many foods can be used as an accompaniment to the soup, ranging from a small amount of sherry or egg yolk to vegetables with a savory custard called royales. Sometimes consommé is served with profiteroles.

An impressively sized piece of meat allows you to prepare only a small amount of consommé. In some recipes, up to 500 grams of meat can be used to produce just one 250 ml serving of the dish. Because it is so expensive to prepare, consommé has a reputation as a gourmet dish invented for the higher classes of society. Historically, it was not consumed by middle-class people, because they could not afford such consumption of meat.

Varieties

Double consommé is a dish with increased concentration. There are at least three methods for producing this variant:

• doubling the amount of meat used in the recipe;
• preparing a regular consommé and reducing it to half its volume by simmering;
• replacing the water in the recipe with an equal amount of already prepared consommé.

Another common option is chilled or gelatinous consommé. What it is? This dish is served cold. Additional gelatin may be added during the last part of the clarification process to ensure that the dish sets properly.

Consommé: what is it and how to prepare it?

The definition of this dish is given above, and now it is important to find out how to prepare it correctly. For a classic meat recipe you will need the following components:

• 1 liter of water;
• 2 egg whites, beaten until foamy;
• 1/2 kilogram of meat (beef or veal);
• 170 grams of a mixture of carrots, celery, onions, chopped or cut into thin strips;
• herbs and spices for taste.

Cooking process

Beat the egg whites until they begin to foam (about 30 seconds). Mix them with chopped meat, vegetables, herbs and spices. Place the mixture in the bottom of the pan and fill with cold water.

Heat over high heat, stirring constantly, until the water reaches a temperature of 49 °, after which the “raft” begins to float. Place a ladle underneath to make a hole in the surface film. Gently bring the consommé to a boil. It is important that the “raft” of proteins does not fall apart.

Once the stock comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer for 60 minutes, while drawing the liquid out through the holes in the ladle. This will help filter the consommé, keeping the top of the “raft” from drying out.

Once the broth becomes clear, remove it from the heat. Carefully lower the “raft” to the bottom of the ladle and remove from the pan. Carefully strain the broth through a thick sieve. For greater clarity, refrigerate the consommé overnight after it has cooled. This will cause the remaining fat to rise to the top and harden. The next day, remove this hard layer. You will get a cold consommé.

What it is? This is the basis for your gourmet dish. You can serve it chilled or hot, with a variety of side dishes including brunois and blanched vegetables, dumplings, sausage, meat balls and so on. The main thing is to remember to season the broth with salt.

In fine restaurants, it is customary to collect side dishes in separate plates, and serve the broth in a plain container so that its transparency is visible.

Poultry option

As noted, consommé is a soup or broth that has been clarified with egg whites to a crystal clear liquid. The base of the dish is a highly flavored, rich broth. Although the most common preparation is made with beef, there are versions made with lamb, duck or chicken. How to prepare this option?

Ingredients:

Chicken bouillon

• 1 chicken breast, skinless, diced;
• 1 shallot, chopped;
• 6 egg whites;
• salt.

Preparation

Combine chicken breast and shallots in a food processor or chop by hand. Whisk the egg whites and stir them into the chicken-onion mixture and add a pinch of salt.

Place in a saucepan and fill with water. While heating gently, bring the broth to a boil, whisking regularly to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

The egg whites will begin to coagulate and float to the top, creating a “raft.” Make a small hole in it. This will allow you to see if all the egg white has risen from the mixture.

When the raft becomes so hard that you can no longer see the contents of the pan, remove it from the heat. Using a ladle, carefully remove the consommé through the opening in the raft and strain through a folded muslin cloth into a container, being careful. If you break the egg whites, the broth will become cloudy.

Chilling the chicken consommé in the refrigerator will help remove any fat that has collected on the surface. Now the dish is ready to use.

• Ingredients for broth:
• beef pulp on the bone - 800 g;
• water – 2.5-3 l;
• onion – 1 piece;
• carrots – 1 piece;
• parsley root - 1 piece.
• Ingredients for the pull:
• minced beef – 250-300 g;
• chicken egg (white) – 1 piece;
• beef broth – 200-250 ml.

• Preparation time: 03:40
• Cooking time: 00:10
• Number of servings: 6
• Complexity: light

Preparation

Let's cook and lighten the consommé according to the classic recipe, and then consider a few more variations of its serving.
Making beef broth

Preparing consommé

While the word “consommé” will still seem strange and unfamiliar to many, most people who are interested in cooking know very well that this is an ordinary broth, only clarified. Like any other dish, its preparation has a classic recipe (from minced chicken or beef) and many variations when the broth is prepared on a vegetable or fruit basis (beets, asparagus, oranges are often used).

The concept of “consommé” came to us from France; it first appeared in the 16th century. There are two versions of the origin of this word. According to the first, the basis of “consommé” is the phrase “cook for a long time”; according to the second version, the verb “to absorb”, which was transformed into the culinary concept of “rich”. Having gone through a long journey (almost five centuries), consommé has turned into a heavily salted strong broth, which is served with a pie.
Nutritionists in many countries are arguing among themselves about the harm of this dish. Due to the fact that it is very rich, the human body accumulates excess cholesterol. However, this only harms those who consume such broth too often. Moreover, if you use lean meat or chicken breast to prepare consommé, it may well pass for a dietary dish.
Cooking consommé is practically no different from preparing regular broths; roots, onions and carrots are added in the same way. Its only difference is double boiling. After this, a clarifying mass is prepared, which turns the broth into consommé.
Egg whites are used for clarification. They are pre-beaten, mixed with minced meat (culinarians call such a mass a pull-off), sent to a boiling broth, boiled and filtered again.


That is, the whole cooking process is incredibly simple - bring to a boil, remove, strain (thereby removing excess fat), boil again and clarify. The base for the consommé is ready, and then everything depends on the recipe and personal taste preferences. For example, you can serve it with meatballs with the addition of boiled roots, carrots and green beans; the first dish will turn out very tasty and festively beautiful.
And to make it elegant in French, let's talk about how consommé is served and what it is eaten with.

How to submit?

It seems that there are no special difficulties in preparing consommé, however, we had to tinker with it, cook the broth, strain it, and strain it. So this dish is unlikely to be an everyday dish; most often it is prepared for some special family dinners. Therefore, you need to serve it beautifully, use appropriate dishes (soup plates from the service or broth cups). It is desirable that the dishes be snow-white, then sunlight will penetrate into the broth and emphasize all its beauty and transparency.

In some restaurants it has become fashionable to serve consommé in glassware (glasses or even wine glasses).

Often, soup side dishes are placed in the clarified broth, that is, ready-made products that serve to diversify the serving of consommé. Of course, they should look beautiful too. For example, if carrots are used, they can be cut into gears or stars. Since the French invented consommé, they also invented soup side dishes to serve it:

• "Caroline." These are specially fried pancakes cut into very thin strips.
• "Brunoise". This variation uses celery and leek stalks. They need to be cut into thin strips and lightly fried in a dry frying pan.
• Poached eggs.
• Fried or boiled mushrooms.
• Ready-made pasta.
• Meatballs.
• Most often, consommé is served with profiteroles (as shown in the photo above). This is a small pastry made from choux pastry.

As a rule, soup side dishes are served on a separate dish and everyone puts them in their own portion as desired. Be sure to serve chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, dill, oregano) with the consommé and soup side dish.