CookEat Recipe
Frog Soup with Toasted Bread
A finely strained frog and vegetable broth with boneless leg meat, dried mushrooms and large toasted bread cubes.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 24 large food-grade frogs, supplied already skinned, gutted and cleaned, with bodies and legs retained; 2 garlic cloves; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; 1 carrot; 1 celery stalk; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped, or 2 tablespoons tomato paste diluted in water; About 1.5 litres water, with extra if needed; 10 g dried edible mushrooms; 200 g bread; Salt and black pepper to taste; Optional: a few basil leaves; quarter of an onion instead of the garlic.
Step 2
Order cleaned edible frogs specifically sold for food by a reputable regulated supplier, including the body portions needed for the broth. Do not use unidentified wild frogs, toads or salamanders. Keep refrigerated below 4°C and thaw frozen portions in the refrigerator. Separate the legs from the body portions and keep the legs cold while preparing the broth.
Step 3
Finely chop the garlic, parsley, carrot and celery. Cook in the olive oil with salt and pepper until the garlic just begins to colour. Add the body portions and cook, turning, until much of their released moisture has evaporated.
Step 4
Add the tomatoes, or diluted tomato paste, and simmer briefly. Add the water and simmer until the body meat is thoroughly cooked and falling apart, about 35–45 minutes. Check that the meat reaches at least 74°C. Press the broth and soft solids through a fine sieve, retaining the purée and discarding every bone and fragment; filter again if any grit or bone remains. Do not blend bones into the soup.
Step 5
Meanwhile soak the dried mushrooms in hot drinking water until soft, rinse away grit and chop. Put the reserved legs in a small pan with enough strained broth to cover. Simmer until cooked through, checking at least 74°C in the thickest meat, about 8–12 minutes depending on size. Lift out and remove every bone.
Step 6
Return the boneless leg meat, its cooking broth and the mushrooms to the main soup. Simmer about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are fully cooked. Adjust salt, pepper and water for a brothy consistency. Toast the bread in slices, cut into fairly large cubes and pour the hot soup over them. Serve immediately.
Step 7
If using the source alternatives, replace the garlic with the chopped onion and add the optional basil to the initial vegetable mixture. The recipe needs both body portions for the strained broth and legs for the meat; a packet of legs alone does not supply the same preparation.
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