Sunday Consommé

Trying to make consommé has been on my culinary todo list for a while. Yesterday (and Saturday) I checked off that item. :-)

I followed the recipe/instructions in Techniques almost completely.

Saturday I made 3 l of beef stock from 1kg of bones, one onion, and some spices. After skimming the fat today, I combined it with 1 kg ground beef, 6 egg whites, a chopped leek, a chopped carrot, a can of tomatoes, chopped celery, parsley, tarragon, and some other spices. I brought this mess to a boil over high heat (stirring frequently), then let it simmer for an hour without stirring. After resting for 30 minutes, I ladled off the stock and strained it through a cloth.

The resulting broth is completely clear and an intense gold/amber color.

We ate the consommé as a starter with a bit of minced shallot added. It's very rich and has a flavor that's subtle, but deep.

This stuff took a long time to make, but it's not a massive amount of work and the results are impressive. It's easy to imagine doing it again for a dinner party or something.

Following a suggestion in Techniques, I made a meatloaf/terrine using the "crust" from the clarification. I added a couple egg yolks, some bread crumbs, and a big spoon of grainy mustard. I put this mass in a loaf pan, covered it with foil, weighted it down, and baked it at 160c for an hour. After cooling I removed the weights, wrapped it in plastic, and stuck it in the fridge. We'll see what the verdict on this is when we eat it later this week.