Mushroom Chicken Consomme Recipes

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.

DRIED PORCINI CONSOMMé

Steps:

• Place the dried porcinis in a bowl or a pyrex measuring cup and cover with 2 cups boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, wipe the fresh mushrooms, trim away the bottoms if they are sandy, break off the stems and set them aside. Set aside half of the caps in a separate bowl and slice the rest.
• Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Drain the porcinis through the cheesecloth-lined strainer. Squeeze over the strainer to extract as much flavorful liquid as possible and set aside the broth. Rinse the reconstituted mushrooms in several changes of water. Measure the mushroom soaking water and add enough water to make 4 cups.
• In a soup pot or a large saucepan, combine the mushroom soaking liquid, the chicken or vegetable stock, the soaked porcinis, fresh mushroom stems and sliced caps, garlic, and salt to taste, and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 30 minutes. Strain the soup and return to the saucepan. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and the soy sauce.
• Slice the fresh mushroom caps you set aside paper-thin and toss with a couple of drops of lemon juice. Ladle the soup into bowls or espresso cups, garnish with a couple of slices of mushroom and a sprinkling of chives, and serve.

MUSHROOM CHICKEN CONSOMME

Steps:

• Pour consommé and one can water into a small sauce pan.
• Add chopped mushrooms.
• Bring to a boil, and simmer until mushrooms are soft.