Easy Recipes for Sauteing

We’re in the process of building a house right now (don’t get me started) and my ovens aren’t wired yet, so I am limited to stovetop cooking which has given me a lot of time to perfect the art of sauteing a protein and creating a pan sauce. Here is some of what I have learned.

Pans

Non-stick pans seem to retard the caramelization. I don’t get as much pan browning, nor do I get those tasty crusty bits in the pan to deglaze and flavor my pan sauce. I love my stainless steel all clad pan. It heats evenly and well, doesn’t stick and I can swirl sauces and toss food in it if I like. It also doubles nicely as an omelet pan. Cast iron is inexpensive, conducts heat really well and evenly, but it is really heavy and unless you are a weightlifter, tossing food or swirling sauces will be really hard, next to impossible.

Saute pans / skillets typically come in two shapes, round being the more popular although I have seen oval which is nice for poaching fish or asparagus. Also, they typically come in two styles of sides, rounded sloping sides, best for tossing food and making omelets, and the more upright, straighter sides. The straight sided pans give you more flat surface area for cooking and work better for swirling sauces.

Size Matters

Of course, it always does. Be sure to choose a pan with plenty of room for the food you intend to cook, to avoid crowding. A crowded pan doesn’t brown food well, and the brown crusty deliciousness is where much of your flavor comes from. It is precious. If you don’t have a pan large enough, cook your food in two or more batches. I slightly undercook my first batches to allow for carry over cooking while it rests. When the first batch is ready, I cover it loosely with foil to keep it warm, but prevent steam from softening my prized and flavorful brown crust.

Fat

The type of fat you use is related to the temperature at which you plan to cook your food, and personal preference.

Butter

I prefer butter, because I love the flavor. The problem with butter is that the milk solids burn at high temperatures leaving unattractive, and bad tasting black specks in the pan and on the food. You can prevent this by clarifying your butter first. You can also buy ghee (Indian style clarified butter) at the grocery store or make your own. To make your own, melt butter until milk fats separate, then pour through coffee filters or paper towels to strain. You can also let the butter brown a bit before straining which imparts amazing flavor and even make it possible to convey more butter flavor while actually using less butter. This is called a beurre noisette in classic French cooking terminology and is basically means brown butter or hazelnut butter, because brown butter imparts a nutter, delicious flavor. Have I mentioned it is my favorite? Well, it still is.

Olive oil

Healthy, good, fast and flavorful olive oil is a great choice especially for Italian or Mediterranean dishes. It is perfect for sweating onions and garlic as the basis of a sauce, but for sauteing, it works well for all but the highest temperature cooking, at which point it may begin to smoke.

Lard

Good news! Lard from healthily raised pigs (as opposed to mass-farmed antibiotic fed pigs) actually contains a large proportion of healthy fats and is actually better for you than that cruddy margarine they tried to pass off on us back when I was a kid. Lard also brings a lot of flavor to the party, and really, cooking is about bringing flavor to the party.

Vegetable / Canola / Peanut Oil

These all work just fine and a neutral in flavor. Yeah, neutral, whoop. Peanut oil is good for deep frying.

Nut oils  - Hazelnut, walnut almond

Taste amazing, but are not for frying. Put them in your salad not in your pan. Drizzle them on finished dishes for a big splash of yum.

Preparing to cook

Choose your pan and your oil and get them heating. Decide whether you will pound your protein to even out its thickness and to tenderize it, or roll with it as it is. To pound, place between layers of good plastic or in a ziplock bag and pound with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet (not hot) until evenly thick to your liking. Pat your protein dry and season it. You can dredge it lightly in flour if you like. This increases the crust factor, and helps to keep juices in. Take care not to over coat it though or it will get gummy. Try using wondra flour, it is so fine, it is never gummy.

Now We’re Cooking

When the pan is nicely hot add your protein and be rewarded with a satisfying sizzle. If no sizzle, it is better to back it out of the pan and wait until it it hot. Watch for the oil to just begin to shimmer, and test the heat with your hand several inches above the pan so you know it is hot. Don’t burn yourself.

Cook the first side until you have that gorgeous crusty brownness that we have been talking about, then flip it over and repeat. Here’s the trick, when the second side is almost brown, you need to test for doneness. I do that by poking gently with my tongs and judging the resistance. Is it squidgy like raw meat or partially squidgy? You may need to reduce the heat, or alternately you can finish the dish in the oven. Other, more scientific people use a thermometer, which is indeed the safest way to roll, but by the time I find my thermometer, I may have missed the perfect moment of doneness which would be bad. I am a poker.

When the food is done to your liking, remove it to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Pour off any cooking fat and add liquid to deglaze the pan (scrape up those good crusty bits). You can choose wine, stock, juice or a gazillion other things depending on your choice of flavoring. Balsamic vinegar is good too. Scrape up the browned bits, increase the heat and reduce the sauce.

Thickening You Sauce

You can relying on simply reducing your sauce of course, or you may add cream, or butter and flour mixed together (beurre manie “kneaded butter” in the fancy French culinary terminology), or a roux (fat, usually butter cooked together with flour) or a slurry of corn starch and water mixed together. For the thickening agent to do its job, the sauce needs to be simmering and if your thickening agent includes flour you’ll need to cook it at least a minute per tablespoon of flour added to cook off the raw flour taste. If you use cream to thicken, simmer more gently to reduce.

Finishing Flavors

At this point you may add any additional flavor to your sauce such as capers, or if you are using a red wine as a sauce base, you might consider a hint of jelly of bring the fruit forward again. Balsamic vinegar is also really good here or a splash of lemon juice. Taste your sauce, and correct the seasoning. If desired, add a knob of butter and stir like a mad woman for a couple of minutes to emulsify.

Serving

Plate your food and drizzle your masterpiece sauce over top. Pass any extra sauce at the table.

Bon Apetit!

Julie Languille

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