No. 22 — Double-Strength Chicken Consommé

For six to eight people take two small cleaned and drawn chickens. Remove the breast fillets for cutlets or quenelles to be served with the broth, and reserve the other flesh for clarification. Put the two frames, wings and legs into 15 glasses of cold water. Under a lid over high heat, bring to the boil three times, removing the scum each time.

Lift the frames on a fork and rinse off remaining foam in the stock. Transfer to another pot and pour the stock over them through a sieve. Add only white roots, lightly browned so the broth turns pale yellow, and simmer. The carcass of one chicken may first be browned well and drained of butter before cooking.

An hour and a half before serving, mince 1 Russian pound of the removed chicken meat very finely, pass through a grinder, and blend with 2–3 raw egg whites and 1½ glasses of cold water. Stir until smooth, warm with a glass of hot broth and pour immediately into the boiling stock, stirring.

Move the pot to the edge of the stove, leave its lid loose and gently cook the clarification mixture for 1½ hours. Put the coagulated mixture on a damp napkin stretched over an upturned stool (the original contains an apparent repeated word here), strain all the broth through it, reboil and serve.

To provide

Serving variations

1. In cups at breakfast. 2. At dinner with fresh dill, chervil and tarragon. 3. With croutons dusted with Parmesan, Nos. 217 and 220. 4. With little pies Nos. 322–376. 5. With separately cooked rice or rice croquettes No. 376. 6. With pearl barley No. 241. 7. With separately cooked Italian macaroni. 8. With quenelles made from the chicken fillets, Nos. 227–228. 9. With dumplings Nos. 276–286. 10. Or simmer ½ glass of semolina in the broth, No. 243.