Thursday, March 18, 2010

National Sauce Month

Recipe.

March is National Sauce Month the perfect time to stretch your culinary wings and add a sauce to your repertoire of go-to recipes. I personally like a quick and easy sauce with a lot of variety. Sometimes at the end of the day I feel like I can’t possibly make one more decision, all I want to do is relax and not talk or think for at least an hour. But the nagging question of “What are we having for dinner?” needs to be answered before this can happen.

We always seem to have chicken of some form in the fridge, so an easy solution is Chicken with Pan Sauce. About a year ago, I ran across the below recipe from Recessipes and have been using it ever since. It allows me to have a glass of wine and put my feet up and still enjoy a delicious meal that doesn’t feel like I skimped.

Once you have mastered this sauce, you can check out Recessipes site for variations using just a few more ingredients.



Chicken with Pan Sauce

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tbsp cold butter
2/3 cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken broth
¼ cup finely chopped shallot or onion
2 tbsp whipping cream

Instructions:

Place each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound the chicken lightly to about ¼” thick. Remove plastic wrap. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet melt 1 tbsp of the butter on medium high heat. Reduce to medium. Cook chicken for 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, turning once. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

Add wine, broth and shallot to the same skillet. Cook and stir, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Bring to boil. Boil gently for 10-15 minutes or until liquid is reduced to ¼ cup. Reduce heat to medium low.

Stir in cream. Add the remaining 4 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring after each addition until butter is melted. Sauce should be slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon sauce over chicken.

**Note: It is important to reduce the liquid to ¼ cup or the sauce will be to thin.

5 comments:

Melissa Hall said...

Does it matter if it is salted or unsalted butter? Thanks!

Hip Hostess said...

I always use uncalted butter when cooking so that you can easily (and consistently) adjust the saltiness to your taste. Enjoy!

Melissa Hall said...

Thanks so much!

Jessica Ryan said...

Oh I must try this! MUST!

Two Bloggers said...

I tried it, it's delicious.

http://ataleoftwobloggers.blogspot.com/