I treated myself to this for lunch. It is precious stuff. A quiet, solitary indulgence.
After roasting a rabbit, a chicken and a duck carcass with carrots, onions, celery and garlic, I made stock, adding fresh thyme, parsley, bay, some allspice, peppercorns and salt. Then I strained that liquid and reduced and reduced and reduced. By the end I had three cupfuls, having started with about 12 (I'm guessing). It is intense, rich and deeply satisfying, perfect for this chilly, windy afternoon.
With the rest I will make wonton soup, stuffing each wrapper with a cube of the jellied consommé before poaching the wontons in some more homemade stock, chicken-based, this time. You get a spoonful of the broth, then you bite the wonton, and the melted, warm contents escape the wrapper and flood your mouth with the rich consommé .
Last night I added some spoonfuls to the spicy, roast tomato sauce I was making for our tacos. When the flavour is this concentrated, a little goes a long way. If I'd been feeling fancy, I would have clarified the broth with some raw egg whites whipped in before heating it again; the whites cook and rise to the surface, dragging all the clouding sediment and bits with them, leaving the broth tinted but clear. Good trick for dinner parties - serve in little cups.
I never knew that trick with egg whites! Cool.
ReplyDeleteIt looks absolutely delicious and I can just imagine its taste....and I wish I could have it for breakfast now- Yum!
ReplyDeleteI was taught how to make consomme at my school (Rustenberg) in what was then called "Domestic Science" now home economics. We all dreaded having to make consomme for our final matric exams as we found it so difficult to get it clear! Now you make it sound so easy, I am inspired to try it again. Thanks Marie.
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