Makes: 2 liters. Cooking time: 2 hours.
Ingredients:
— 2 1/2 liters chicken and beef consommé
— 400 grams very lean beef, blanched
— 150 grams celery (prepared and cut paysanne)
— 200 grams carrots (^)
— 75 grams cabbage (^)
— 100 grams leek (^)
— 200 grams turnip (^)
— 10 winglets of chicken, blanched with the bones removed and cut in two.
— 10 slices beef marrow
— 30 sliced and dried bread croûtes
— 50 grams grated Parmesan cheese
— seasoning of salt and pepper
Method:
(1) Boil the consommé and add in the following order the beef, celery, carrots, cabbage, leek, winglets and turnips, permitting the soup to simmer and skimming continuously, according to the principles of staggered commodity cooking.
(2) Remove the beef when cooked; cool, then cut into approximately 1 cm dice and return to the soup.
(3) Remove all traces of fat from the surface of the soup, season to taste and correct the ratio of garnish to liquid.
(4) Serve in marmites, adding one slice of beef marrow per portion at the point of service, placing it on the surface of the soup.
Service:
Should be served in individual or multi-portion earthenware marmites placed on an underdish. A standard portion should be approximately 2 dl per person. Bread croûtes and grated cheese should be served in separate sauceboats.
Assessment of the completed dish:
(1) The soup should be hot.
(2) The color should be amber and clear.
(3) The flavour should be of double strength consommé with a decisive taste. It should also be a combination of beef, chicken and vegetables in flavour with no one vegetable predominating.
(4) The beef should be cut into small even dice. The size of the vegetable garnish should be even in keeping with the soup, fitting easily into a soup spoon. The chicken winglets should have the point end removed and be cut across in two pieces with the bone removed.
(5) The beef marrow should be evenly sliced across and should not have disintegrated by overcooking; it should be added at the last moment.
(6) The croûtes should be thinly sliced so as to be almost translucent, then evenly coloured till a light golden brown and crisp.
(7) The Parmesan cheese should be finely grated.
Possible problem, causes and solution:
(1) Broth is cloudy
— poor quality consommé used; re-clarify as for consommé.
— not skimmed sufficiently; re-clarify as for consommé.
— bouillon overcooked; re-clarify as for consommé.
— bouillon allowed to boil rapidly; re-clarify as for consommé.
— bouillon covered with a lid during cooking; reclarify as for consommé.
(2) Vegetables overcooked
— to avoid this make sure that the vegetables are added in the order in which they will be cooked.
Note:
See also Basic Consommé Recipe for problems associated with consommé which forms the basis for this type of soup.