[KYHeirloomer]

Here's a light soup, ideal for the summertime, particularly when you're entertaining dinner guests:

Essence of Celery Consomme

11 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
12 cups chopped celery, divided
1 cup thinly sliced celery
2 onions, sliced thin
1 tbls celery seed
2 tsp dried thyme
4 large egg whites, beaten
Shells from the eggs

In a kettle combine the stock, wine, 6 cups of the chopped celery, and onion. Bring to boil and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve set over a large bowl, pressing hard on the solids, and return liquid to the kettle. Add the remaining 6 cups celery, celery seed, thyme, egg whites and shells, bring to a boil, stirring, and cook the mixture at a bare simmer, undisturbed, 20 minutes.

Ladle the mixture into a fine sieve lined with dampened paper towels set over a large bowl. Discard the solids.

Can be made 2 days in advance, kept chilled, and reheated without boiling.

To serve, put the sliced celery in a heated tureen and ladle the soup over it.

As a classy alternative: Dissolve 4 envelopes gelatine in a cup of cold consomme. Pour in 3 cups of consomme heated just to the boiling point. Stir well to fully dissolve and incorporate the gelatine.

Pour the mixture into a sheet pan, and refrigerate until solid. Cut into a fine dice, and serve in martini glasses, with a bit of celery leaf as garnish.