French Onion Soup
Sign Up for the Recipe Publishing Newsletter
Simple Beef Consommé
You can use game, fish, chicken, or beef to make consommé and you can always make a lot and freeze some for later use. Consommé is used as a base for all kinds of interesting soups, including French onion soup.
There are lots of easy French onion soup recipes, which come out even better if they are made with homemade consommé. In fact, every recipe for onion soup is better if you use freshly made consommé rather than something store bought. It does wonders for the flavor. French onion soup made with canned broth is all right but French onion soup made with homemade beef broth or beef consommé is fantastic.
If you add some vegetables and shredded meat to your consommé, you can make a really nice soup recipe, no matter what cuisine you are going for - Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese, or something else. Soup is popular all over the world. French onion soup is especially great when made with beef consommé because the richness of the beef flavor goes so well with the sweet onions in the onion soup and the tangy French onion soup cheese on top.
Exquisite Beef Consommé
Ingredients -
6 ˝ pints cold beef broth (made from a good bouillon cube)
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 stick celery, chopped
3 sprigs thyme
10 ˝ oz shin of beef, finely chopped in a food processor
˝ leek, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Chop the vegetables finely in a food processor with the tomato puree and thyme.
Add the egg white and beef.
Mix it well with the cold broth in a stockpot, using a whisk or your hands.
Bring the broth to a simmer, stirring it a few times in the first few minutes.
The meat and egg white will form a crust.
Now do not stir it at all - just leave it to simmer gently for an hour.
Strain the consommé through a strainer or colander lined with double folded muslin, cheesecloth or a clean tea towel.
(Makes 4 Pints)
Clarifying Beef Consommé
You need to clarify your beef consommé recipe by adding an egg white and leaving it in the broth. Some beef consommé recipes also call for eggshell, ground beef, vegetables, tomatoes, lemon juice and more, because these add to the consommé flavor. When the egg sets on top, poke a hole in it. When the consommé looks clear (because the particles are sticking to the egg white), remove the egg white and let the consommé cook for five more minutes, to ensure you have removed all the egg or all the pieces of whatever you have used to make the raft.
Straining Beef Consommé
You can strain the beef consommé through cheesecloth, a tea towel, or a coffee filter but take care with coffee filters because they can remove a lot of the beef consommé flavor and this would mean that you have to add more seasoning after filtering the consommé. This is not a problem, as long as you are aware of it. If you have muslin or cheesecloth, it is better to use one of those because the salt and pepper are not the only flavors in the beef consommé, which are diluted by the coffee filter. After straining, you are ready to make French onion soup.