What is beef consomme (consommé)?
Beef consomme (consommé) is not just a clarified beef stock or beef broth as some may define it. The word ‘consommé’ is translated from French as ‘completed’ or ‘concentrated’. What this means is that a consomme is a strong, concentrated stock or broth. In fact, in classical French cuisine, to be called a consommé all a stock had to be is concentrated. Consomme was then further divided into two kinds: regular and clarified. In this recipe, the definition of consomme is concentrated and clarified beef broth or stock. This is likely the most precise and most complete definition of consomme. Yet, let’s make it clear that beef stock of broth richness and strength are more important than clarity. You can have a consomme that is cloudy and not visually appealing yet rich, mellow and full of aroma, but you can’t have a consomme that is thin and watery.
How Beef Broth/Stock Clarification Works
When beef broth or stock is made, a certain amount of proteins get dissolved water, making it cloudy. When the water is heated these proteins coagulate and rise to the top. When properly controlling this process, these coagulated proteins will all rise to the top, leaving perfectly clear stock or broth behind. Now it’s just a matter of not disturbing the top while carefully transferring clarified stock out of the pot.
Basic Ingredients for clarifying beef stock or broth
The ingredients that are used to clarify beef stock are called the clearmeat or the clarification. The ingredients include:
Must try recipes that use beef consomme
Rachel Ray’s French Onion Soup Topped French Bread Pizzas and Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette Ree Drummond’s Braised Beef Brisket Rachel Ray’s French Dip Sandwiches Ree Drummond’s Potluck Meatballs Alton Brown’s French Onion Soup Rachel Ray’s Pepper Steak and Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms Ree Drummond’s Drippy French Dip Sandwiches Robert Irvine’s Lightning Chili and Rice
