From the Demo: Sauces
Courtesy of Café Surfas Executive Chef Brandi Quinn
Types of sauces
Pan Sauce: A pan sauce is made in a matter of minutes with just a handful of ingredients but can look and taste nearly as rich as a classic labor-intensive French sauce. The base of a pan sauce is the “fond” or brown bits which cling to the bottom of the pan after sautéing or searing any type of protein. Once the food is removed from the skillet aromatics, such as garlic, onions or shallots can be sautéed in the pan and in a process called deglazing, liquid is added and the fond is scraped up. The liquid is then simmered and reduced to concentrate the flavors and thicken. A pan sauce is usually enriched with butter which is whisked in at the end.
Helpful hints for a pan sauce:
- I recommend a stainless steel pan. A nonstick pan will not give the fond needed for the base of your sauce. A cast iron skillet will make your sauce taste metallic and it will look dirty. Be sure to use the proper sized skillet. If you overcrowd your pan the food will steam and not give the fond needed for your sauce.
- Make sure you have all your “mise en place” or all your tools and ingredients ready. Pan sauces are made quickly so you need everything to be ready to go.
- Types of liquid- If you are cooking chicken I recommend white wine, chicken stock or chicken broth; for red meat, red wine, beef stock or broth or for fish, white wine, fish stock, clam broth, or fruit juice.
- If you do not have or choose not to use wine you can substitute ½ cup broth or stock with one tablespoon of lemon juice or wine flavored vinegar.
- A wooden spoon or utensil works best for scraping the fond while deglazing.
- I recommend having the butter for finishing ready- cubed and very cold. Cold butter is easier to incorporate into a sauce than softened butter and it makes for a sturdier emulsion that is more resistant to breaking.
- Very important! Start with the best ingredients you can find and you will be rewarded with a great sauce. Don’t cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. The same for stocks and broths. These ingredients are going to reduce and the flavor will concentrate. If it doesn’t taste good at the beginning it will taste terrible when reduced.
Cream Sauce
Cream sauce is probably the easiest sauce and the most versatile. You can be very creative with this sauce by flavoring it with just about anything; saffron, mustard, sundried tomato, pesto etc. Cream sauces thicken just by reducing the cream. Don’t try to substitute half n half for heavy cream when making a cream sauces, soups or casseroles as half n half is homogenized for shelf life and will break or separate when exposed to high heat.
Steps for a Cream Sauce
- Sauté or heat the flavoring ingredient for your sauce.
- Add cream.
- Reduce until desired thickness.
- Taste and season.
If for some reason you reduced your sauce too much or the flavor is too strong, salty or it just flat there are a couple of things to do to fix it. Any cream sauce will brighten with a little hint of acid. Lemon juice is my favorite but you can use wine or vinegar as well. If your sauce is too concentrated, salty or over reduced add more cream and reduce again until it reaches the desired flavor and consistency.
If your cream sauce doesn’t seem to be thickening or it is taking a long time to thicken turn the heat up until the creams bubbles with medium to large bubbles until it reaches the proper consistency. Watch carefully so that it doesn’t boil over! Adjust the heat if necessary.
Buerre Blanc or Butter Sauce
Buerre blanc or white butter sauce is a rich, hot butter sauce. Traditionally made with a shallot and white wine reduction to which cold butter is added (off the heat to prevent separation). This is a wonderful sauce and it is very easy to be creative with. Here are a few things to remember when making this sauce:
- Always use a stainless steel pan.
- Sauté aromatics or desired flavorings.
- Add acid and reduce to “au sec” or almost dry
- Whisk in cold butter a few cubes at a time.
- Always work over medium to low heat but whisk in butter off the heat so your sauce does not separate.
If you are making this sauce ahead of time and need it to hold you can stabilize by adding cream (however then it is not a true beurre blanc).
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