CookEat Recipe
Borsh Polonaise
A strained beef-and-duck broth with cooked carrot, beetroot and small selections of beef and bacon cut into julienne, plus slices of smoked pork sausage. The cooked duck and remaining meats are reserved.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Use one small, whole raw duck. Have its head, feet and viscera removed by the supplier, keeping the same bird. If frozen, thaw completely in the refrigerator at 4°C or colder. Do not rinse raw poultry; pat it dry with disposable paper. Prepare the vegetables and keep the raw duck and bacon refrigerated until needed. Use a large, already seasoned food-safe earthenware soup pot rated for direct stovetop use, with its lid and any diffuser required by its maker. It must hold all the ingredients and the four quarts of starting water with adequate headroom.
Step 2
Place the two-pound piece of raw beef flank in that pot with the four quarts of cold water and one light tablespoon of salt. Heat gradually according to the pot’s instructions. Bring to the boil and skim the surface fat and scum. Keep at a gentle simmer while preparing the duck.
Step 3
Heat a conventional oven to 200°C. Put the duck on a metal roasting tin, spread a little butter over its breast and roast uncovered for about 25 minutes. The duck will finish cooking in the soup pot. Transfer the same hot duck immediately into the beef pot without cooling or storing it between stages. Do not add the roasting-tin drippings.
Step 4
Add the quarter-pound piece of raw lean bacon, the two carrots, two leeks, two parsley roots, two celery branches, one onion, two peeled beetroots, one thyme sprig, one bay leaf, two whole spice cloves and one teaspoon of whole allspice berries. Return gently to a simmer, cover and simmer for about an hour and a half, skimming off fat from time to time. Do not add extra water or a prepared stock.
Step 5
Add the one whole ready-to-eat smoked pork sausage and continue the covered gentle simmer for about 30 minutes. Extend as needed until the meats are fully cooked and tender: the thick breast and thigh meat of the whole duck must reach at least 82°C, the beef and bacon at least 71°C, and the sausage must be thoroughly hot to at least 74°C. Check with a clean food thermometer, avoiding bones; the cooking times are guides.
Step 6
Lift all the cooked solids from the pot with clean tools. From these same solids, select one cooked carrot, one cooked beetroot, a very small piece of the cooked pork bacon and a small piece of the cooked beef. Remove any bones or tough inedible parts from the selected meats and cut these selected vegetables and meats into julienne strips. Cut the whole cooked sausage into small slices. Put these selected solids into a hot soup tureen. Reserve the duck and the remaining beef and bacon for the prompt cooling step below.
Step 7
Skim the fat from the broth. Pass the same broth through a double layer of clean food-grade cheesecloth over the selected julienne and sausage in the tureen. Serve promptly, ladling the soup into bowls.
Step 8
Without waiting until the meal is over, cut and debone the reserved fully cooked duck for rapid cooling, retaining its meat for the following day’s lunch. Put it and the remaining beef and bacon into separate shallow containers. Refrigerate promptly, within two hours, at 4°C or colder; leave loosely covered until cold, then cover. Use the duck the next day and the other chilled meats within two to three days, or freeze them. Reheat only the portions required to at least 74°C once; bring any leftover soup to a full rolling boil while stirring.
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