That is exactly what I have been attempting to do, but unsuccessfully at this point. Reading about the nice clear renditions of everything from foie gras broth to buttermilk on ideasinfood chef blog, I have attempted to achieve this in several different ways. Chef Alex hints to using gelatin and freezing/thawing in his process... without actually giving out the full procedure. This seems logical enough. Gelatin and irish moss have been clarifying agents for beer and wine for ages. These are 2 of my ongoing specimens for observation. Although I have noticed a slight breakdown in homogenization, it is a far cry from what I would deem as clarification. So far, the liquids are sitting on their 4th day. The first specimen is only milk which I did freeze and allow to thaw under refrigeration... a process that would seem to break the milk down into its elements and allow the gelatin to pull the components down to the bottom, but no sign of that yet.
The proportion of gelatin that I am using is 1/3 tsp of gelatin (bloomed and boiled) into 3 Tbsp of water, then mixed into the cold liquid (this proportion suggested for amounts of 5 gallons or less). The ratio is from beer brewing procedure. A brewhouse seemed like a logical place to go to learn about gelatin clarification. Chef K, Chef Mike, and myself drove up to see our friend Gary Marshall in Fort Lauderdale who runs a brew supply store there. He's incredibly knowledgeable about what he does... and being passionate about brewing beer seems reasonably understandable. He gave us tips on ratios, ingredients, and temperatures. He also did a good job of talking us into brewing our own batch of beer. After checking out a few samples and purchasing some ingredients to use in our food (chinook hops, amber malt, oak essence, and cascade), we took our new knowledge home. As of yet, the proportions don't seem to fit well with food clarification. Maybe more gelatin is required, but it seems that too much would possibly 'gel' the liquid slightly instead of clarifying it.
I tried another clarification method. This time a very traditional one used in a not-so-traditional manner from Sam Mason. The foodite food blog posted a recipe (from a Sam Mason lecture) for clarified chocolate broth using egg whites and cocoa nibs in the clarification. What I ended up with here was a chocolate souffle raft floating above unclarified chocolate broth. Although the result was not the clear tea-like amber liquid it was supposed to yield, the chocolate broth in itself is pretty damn good.
Here is the offspring of one of my clarification 'failures'... the vichy 'shot.' My take on classic vichyssoise using smoked potatoes (unclarified unfortunately) topped with a coconut foam. The flavors blend together beautifully and unexpectedly since I first noticed that the smoked potatoes hinted at coconut on their own... weird.
For now, the clarification quest continues. Please offer your input if you can assist in this quest. I'm also currently observing a mixture that I am trying to clarify with a half and half solution of gelatin and carrageenan. Maybe success will come... now or later. Things have to clear up eventually.