Consome from Alexey Zimin
8 servings
120 minutes
Alexey Zimin's consomme is a culinary masterpiece that combines skill and patience. This transparent, rich broth is prepared over 12 hours, slowly extracting the depth of flavor from beef bones, turkey legs, oxtails, and aromatic vegetables. Roasting the bones gives it a beautiful color, while careful filtration transforms it into a pure elixir of gastronomic perfection. Rich umami notes from mushrooms and a hint of spice from fragrant pepper make the consomme both delicate and rich. Ideal as a standalone dish or as a base for more complex compositions. This broth symbolizes sophistication and true respect for high cuisine traditions, celebrating patience and the pursuit of impeccable taste.
1
Place the bones on a baking sheet and roast for an hour at 180 degrees. Roasted bones will add color to the broth and remove excess fat from the bones.
- Beef bones: 1 kg
2
Transfer the bones from the baking tray to a pot of boiling water and return the tray to the oven, placing 2 onions, 2 carrots, and 2 celery stalks on it.
- Beef bones: 1 kg
- Onion: 3 heads
- Carrot: 3 pieces
- Celery stalk: 3 pieces
3
Remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
- Tomatoes: 6 pieces
4
Roast the vegetables in the oven and add them to the pot where the bones are boiling. Also add tomatoes, 2 handfuls of mushrooms, turkey leg, beef shank, bouquet garni, and garlic cloves. Constantly skim off the foam. Reduce the heat; the liquid in the pot should not boil but just tremble. Cook for 12 hours. The liquid will evaporate from 5 liters to about 1.5 liters by the end of cooking. Salt should be added at the very end.
- Onion: 3 heads
- Carrot: 3 pieces
- Celery stalk: 3 pieces
- Tomatoes: 6 pieces
- Champignons: 200 g
- Turkey drumstick: 1 piece
- Beef shanks: 1 piece
- Bouquet garni: 1 bunch
- Garlic: 2 cloves
- Salt: to taste
5
Strain the broth twice and cool it down. Pour the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk them. A large bowl is needed for aeration. More oxygen means the whites will rise better.
- Egg white: 4 pieces
6
Mix the whipped egg whites with mirepoix.
- Ground beef: 300 g
7
Add ground beef to the mixture and mix it thoroughly. Then pour 1.5 liters of broth into a large bowl and transfer everything to a clean pot.
- Ground beef: 300 g
- Egg white: 4 pieces
8
Put the pot on the fire, the broth will slowly boil, and the mixture from the bottom will rise to form a thick crust. Make a hole in the crust with a kitchen spatula and reduce the heat to minimum. Cook for half an hour.
- Black peppercorns: 10 g
9
Then throw a handful of black pepper into the hole and boil for another 10 minutes. Ground beef, mirepoix, and egg whites are needed to add fresh flavor, but that's secondary; the main thing is to collect all the remaining tiny particles of gastronomic dirt in the broth and lift them up for easier collection with a spoon or skimmer. Boil for another 10 minutes.
- Ground beef: 300 g
- Egg white: 4 pieces
10
Salt, taste, ensure everything is fine, and strain through a fine sieve and double-layered cheesecloth. The resulting liquid is the color of weak coffee. Pour the consomme into cups and serve.
- Salt: to taste