Tomato Mushroom Consomme Food

CONSOMME

Steps:

• Some Traditional Garnishes: Brunoise-Consomme garnish with small cubes of carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, peas, and chervil
• Cheveux d'anges-Chicken Consomme garnished with very small vermicelli and grated Parmesan cheese
• In a mixing bowl, whip the egg whites slightly. Combine the lean meat, vegetables, tomato puree, herbs, and spices together. Mix in the egg whites. In a spigot stock pot, blend the cold chicken stock with the meat mixture. Place the stock pot on medium heat. Stir the liquid occasionally until the raft forms. (the liquid should reach 160 degrees F) Simmer the soup for 1 1/2 hours, making sure the raft does not break or sink. Remove the first cup of the consomme from the spigot to remove sediment and discard. Line a china cap with 5 layers of cheesecloth. Strain the liquid slowly. If the liquid is cloudy, strain the consomme again with fresh cheesecloth. Season with salt, hot sauce, and garnishes.

TOMATO CONSOMME

Steps:

• Place the tomatoes, mint, garlic, lemongrass, chopped scallion and jalapeno in a blender and pulse until still chunky but releasing liquid.
• Line a fine sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth over a large container. Pour the tomato mixture into the sieve and let drain for 2 to 3 hours, or refrigerate overnight.
• Season the strained liquid with salt and pepper. Pour into shooter glasses, garnish with the grape tomatoes and sliced scallions.

MUSHROOM CONSOMME

Steps:

• Combine Porcini mushrooms, garlic and chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile beat water with egg whites, and gradually, in a thin steady stream, ladle half of the mushroom broth into the egg whites. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and set over moderate heat. As the broth reaches the simmer, stir it continuously with a whisk. When the simmer is reached, stop stirring; the egg whites should have mounted to the surface in a frothy "cap". Gently move the saucepan to the side (half off heat) so that the edge of the liquid is barely bubbling. Make a quarter turn of the saucepan every 5 minutes until all parts of broth have had a chance to clarify.
• Line a wide strainer with a triple layer of washed cotton cheesecloth. Set the strainer over a deep saucepot (so that bottom of strainer remains above surface of liquid). Carefully ladle stock and egg white cap into cheesecloth, disturbing egg whites as little as possible. Towards the end of straining, as cheesecloth gets full, the liquid will pass down more slowly. Just lift the cheesecloth gently so liquid can drain through an unused section of it. Let cheesecloth and egg whites sit over saucepan undisturbed for 5 minutes.
• When ready to eat, reheat consomme in a clean saucepan; adjust seasoning and ladle it out. Garnish with raw mushroom slices and radish sprouts.