Today it’s all about the sauce. Well, at least some sauces. This is my part one in a two-part episode on sauces. Today I’m talking about pan sauces and how to thicken sauces. Next time I’ll tackle the five traditional “mother sauces” of western cuisine.
Listen for all the saucy goodness!
Here’s a quick summary:
Pan Sauces
- First step is to deglaze the pan. This means adding a little liquid (Like half a cup or so) to the pan over heat, and scraping up everything that was stuck to the pan–those little leftover bits of chicken and veggies. You can use wine or really any other liquid you want to deglaze a pan. For a chicken dish a dry white wine like a sauv blanc is good. Just use something that has flavor. Make sure your heat is high enough to rapidly simmer and reduce your deglazing liquid until there isn’t much left. Maybe a couple of tablespoons.
- Now you’ll probably want to add in some stock. Make sure your heat is high enough to have that stock at a rapid simmer so it can reduce down by half. You want to get it so it thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon without just dripping off.
- Now taste and adjust seasoning if you need to. Toss in a knob of butter or a splash of heavy cream to give the sauce a little body and boost the flavor. Serve! Sounds like a lot of work, but the whole process should take only a few minutes.
- You can spice up pan sauces by adding some aromatic ingredients just before you deglaze. For example, sliced shallots or garlic. You saute until soft and then deglaze and proceed as normal.
Thickeners
- Reductions
- Starchy water
- Slurries (flour, cornstarch, others)
- Beurre Manie
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