Consomme

There are two ways of making consomme : one is to make broth as above, with the exception that five pounds of lean beef, instead of three, are used with three quarts of water, and simmered from seven to eight hours, instead of five, the vegetables and seasonings being the same; or by boiling broth gently till properly reduced.

The other way is to roast, until they are only one-third done, one, two, or three fowls, not under two years old; then place them in a soup-kettle with three pounds of lean beef; wet with three quarts of cold water; skim off as above directed; add the same vegetables and seasonings as for broth for potages. After having simmered the whole for three hours, the fowl or fowls must be taken out of the kettle, and the rest is to be simmered for about three hours longer. The meat, vegetables, and seasonings are then taken from the kettle or saucepan; the liquor is strained, and that liquor is the best consomme that can be made; or by boiling the same, gently, in three quarts of good broth, you make consomme also.

The reason for directing to use one, two, or three fowls is, that the more fowls used, the better and richer the broth. The fowls after having been thus used may be prepared in salad, and make a very excellent dish.

One pound of beef is enough to make broth for a potage for three or four persons.

Always use fresh meat; meat with a venison taste or tainted would spoil if not entirely destroy the broth.

To Clarify Broth

If not as clear as wanted, beat the white of an egg with a gill of cold broth, and turn into the broth; boil gently about ten minutes, and strain through a cloth or towel

Any kind of potage made with broth may be made with consomme. It may also be made with water, adding butter. With consomme it is richer, and with water much inferior, than with broth.

When a rump-piece is used to make broth, it is better to bone it first, and take it from the soup-kettle after three or four hours; it is served as a releve, or prepared as cold beef. The broth is finished as directed; the bones and vegetables being kept on the fire longer than the meat.

Chicken and turkey broth are often called potage de sante (potage of health).

Chicken

Roast or bake till turning yellow, a chicken over two years old. Put it in a soup-kettle with three pints of water, and set it on a rather slow fire; skim off the scum, add a middling-sized onion, a leek, a few stalks of chervil if handy, a middling-sized head of lettuce, and salt; simmer about three hours. Take out the chicken and vegetables, skim off the fat, strain, and use. This broth is excellent for a weak stomach, and is easy of digestion. The chicken is served in salad.

Turkey

Procure a rather old turkey and roast or bake it till about one-third done; put it in a soup-kettle with about a pint of water to a pound of meat, and set it on a rather slow fire. As soon as the scum comes on the surface, skim it off carefully; then add two onions, two leeks, two or three heads of lettuce, a small handful of chervil if handy, and salt. Simmer about five hours.

Use the broth as chicken-broth above, and serve the turkey in salad.