With the aroma of beef in a crystal clear broth, consommé is great for the evening and very easy to digest.

Prepare the ingredients:

Put the thyme, bay leaves, peppercorn, and parsley together in the cheesecloth to make a spice bag. Peel, wash, and chop or grind the vegetables. Thoroughly mix the beef, eggs whites, vegetables, and tomatoes with half of the cold stock in a thick-bottomed pot. Add the remainder of the cold stock, and the spice bag. Cook the beef consommé: Place the pot over a gentle heat and slowly bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil rapidly for about 5 seconds only. Lower the heat so that the consommé simmers very gently. Cook for 1 hour without stirring. Do not break the raft. Turn the heat off and let rest for 30 minutes before straining. The consommé will be clearer. Strain carefully through double cheesecloth. Remove all the fat using both sides of a square piece of paper towel. Bring to a boil and serve with appropriate garnishes.

Chef Eric hints and tips: To clarify the stock, egg whites are stirred in along with a mixture of lean meat, fish or vegetables and aromatic herbs to enrich its flavor. The mixture is brought slowly to a boil, and should be stirred constantly during this time to keep the whites from sticking and burning at the bottom of the pan. Simmer. Once the mixture has come to a boil, the egg whites solidify into a soft crust on top of the stock. At this point, the mixture must not be stirred at all, as stirring would make it cloudy. Any fats and solid impurities in the stock attach themselves to the egg whites as the stock filters through, and the stock below is left beautifully transparent.