Create an Impressive Pan Sauce for Almost Any Meat
The perfect sauce should complement and enhance the flavors of a main course. When prepared fresh as part of the cooking process, a delicious pan sauce will impress your dinner guests.
Contents
Steps
- Cook food at high heat on a stove top pan. Pan sauces require fond, the caramelized chunks of food left in the pan after high heat cooking. If using a low or indirect cooking method (steaming, poaching, boiling, slow baking etc.), consider stealing some pieces of the meat specifically for this purpose. This also works well with meats not cooked in a pan, such as steaks on a grill. Bits of red meat surrounded by bone or gristle as well as the small wings of poultry work well for this purpose.
- After cooking (whether of the main dish or scraps) and removing the meat from the pan, add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or butter to both this pan and a second skillet, both over medium high heat.
- To the second skillet, add 2 tbsp light olive oil or other medium vegetable oil.
- Once the fats come to temperature, add 1 medium onion, diced, to the cooking pan. add 3 tbsp flour and 2 tsp garlic powder to the other skillet. Season the contents of each pan.
- While the onion sautés (adding its own caramelization to the fond), constantly stir or whisk the other skillet until a "blonde roux" results. A blonde roux is very light brown, slightly lighter than light brown sugar. As the roux comes together and the fat is absorbed, gradually lower the heat under this pan.
- Deglaze the main pan to pull up the fond. When deglazing, lift pan off heat and pour approximately 1 cup of flavorful liquid (a decent, drinkable wine is preferred, but clear, smooth fruit juices such as apple, cranberry and white grape are also fine choices) into the hot pan. Return to heat and scrape the onion and fond until the liquid is dissolved.
- Add 3 cups flavorful liquid (chicken and vegetable broths work well), a bay leaf and any hearty herbs which complement the entrée.
- Whisk in the roux until smooth.
- Reduce until the sauce is nape (a sauce which is nape will coat the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through the sauce will remain clear even as the spoon is turned around.)
- Remove from heat and strain.
- Add 2 pats of cold butter and whisk until smooth and velvety.
- Optionally add a small amount of chopped delicate herbs which complement the entrée.
- Finished.
Tips
- The liquids used in this technique can be varied greatly. Veal stock is wonderful with any red meat. Juice from rehydrating a mixture of dried fruits and mushrooms lends a complex taste. Deglazing en flambe with a jigger of liquor is great, but it is not enough liquid to lift the fond, so follow up with a half cup of water.
- It is not necessary to chop the hearty herbs used in the sauce, but roll them on the counter or in your hand before adding to the pan, as this will help release essential oils.
- Using garlic powder in the roux has two advantages over using fresh garlic in the pan with the onion. First off, any small clumps in the roux will be less odious owing to the taste of garlic (as opposed to raw flour.) Second, it is desirable to cook the onion as much as possible (onion produces wonderful fond and gets sweeter as you cook it -- but garlic produces no fond and becomes bitter when overcooked.)
Warnings
- If the roux does not come together and begin to "ball" by the time it reaches an off-white color, add flour by the half teaspoon.
- Fish which are low in fat or meats which are very high in fat (such as flounder or skin-on duck breast) are not ideal for producing fond. In these cases, take liberties with step #1 -- for example, a few sea scallops or jumbo shrimp (patted completely dry) are a good start for a sauce to complement a mild fish.
