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Lobster Consomme

post #1 of 10
9/26/10 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
Supposing I have a lot of lobster stock (which I do) and want to make consumme (which I might), but I don't have any more lobster guts (which I don't), how should I do it? By which I mean, what goes in the raft?
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post #2 of 10
9/26/10 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manton View Post
Supposing I have a lot of lobster stock (which I do) and want to make consumme (which I might), but I don't have any more lobster guts (which I don't), how should I do it? By which I mean, what goes in the raft?

Just egg white and mirepoix. Matt and I were talking about this earlier actually. It works just as well, if not more so.
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post #3 of 10
9/26/10 at 8:55pm
You'll need to add a little acid. White wine or lemon can do...
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post #4 of 10
9/26/10 at 10:03pm
Thread Starter 
Ratios plz?
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post #5 of 10
9/26/10 at 10:27pm
How much stock do you have to use?

The traditional approach is 12 parts stock, 3 parts meat, 1 part mirepoix and 1 part egg whites (by weight), but you can vary this considerably. The relationship between the vegetables generally reflects the ratio in a classic mirepoix. I'd use a white mirepoix of 2 parts onion or the white of leeks to one part celery root or hearts to one part parsnips...but you really can be more flexible depending on the flavors you want to develop and the ingredients you want to use. For instance, Keller's lobster consomme' in TFL uses chopped fennel (a generous 1/4 cup), a generous 3/4 cup of carrots, and 1/3 cup of onion. He uses 3 large egg whites for about 4 quarts of stock.
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post #6 of 10
9/26/10 at 10:28pm
Tomato paste, 1 white per 2 cups of stock, mirepoix, star anise. Pretty simple.
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post #7 of 10
9/27/10 at 3:04pm
FWIW, lobster stock is a very good candidate for agar clarification, since you wouldn't be losing any mouthfeel. Just make a really weak agar gel out of the stock, pour it into a cookie sheet. Freeze it overnight, and then cut into small pieces and place in a strainer over cheesecloth on your counter (or in the fridge if you are a restaurant.
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post #8 of 10
9/27/10 at 3:09pm
this thread reads like escoffier. i have no idea what is going on, but wish i did
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post #9 of 10
9/27/10 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by medwards View Post
How much stock do you have to use?

The traditional approach is 12 parts stock, 3 parts meat, 1 part mirepoix and 1 part egg whites (by weight), but you can vary this considerably. The relationship between the vegetables generally reflects the ratio in a classic mirepoix. I'd use a white mirepoix of 2 parts onion or the white of leeks to one part celery root or hearts to one part parsnips...but you really can be more flexible depending on the flavors you want to develop and the ingredients you want to use. For instance, Keller's lobster consomme' in TFL uses chopped fennel (a generous 1/4 cup), a generous 3/4 cup of carrots, and 1/3 cup of onion. He uses 3 large egg whites for about 4 quarts of stock.
Ummm, the classic method of clarifying seafood stocks and aspics does not use meat or egg, but caviar. Nowadays I'd be shocked to see anybody use meat for it, because the product is actually a bit worse (not necessarily so with meats...) I made clearmeat for crab consomme 3 days a week for 7 months, just eggwhites and mirepoix as Kyle said. I think tomato paste helps, and I like star anise.
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post #10 of 10
9/27/10 at 5:32pm
Sorry, I was being generic. By meat (admittedly a poor choice of words)I meant product other than vegetable or aromatics -- in this case, lobster roe might be appropriate. The addition is designed to fortify the flavor of the stock. The acid in tomato paste certainly helps solidify the raft, though you can achieve this through another acid such as lemon juice, white wine or vinegar.
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