PART II PAN SAUCES- 101

In my book Savvy Sauces and Gravies I list the 8 classic French sauces, starting with the 5 famous ‘Mother Sauces’, Béchamel (or classic White Sauce), Sauce Volute, Hollandaise,Demi-Glace, Sauce de Tomate, Mayonnaise, Oil and Vinegar and Sauces au Buerre(Butter Sauces). I explore all of them; give directions how to make them and explain that ingredient variations and/or additions, result in a second generation of sauces, some such as Marsala and Picatta have become standards in their own right. In the same way third, fourth and more generates of sauces are created.

These later generations of sauce offspring, including pan sauces, form a large and varied category with some of the creations recorded for duplication, bringing fame to chefs for their inspirations. Perhaps best known is Caesar Cardini who patented his salad dressing. Countless more, made every day, are momentary inspirations of chefs, cooks and family meal providers, problem solving or menu perking, their recipes equally fleeting.

Pan sauces are made in the pan used to sauté meats or vegetables. After cooking, little leftover particles, called the fond, are stuck to the pan’s bottom, and they, plus any residual cooking fluids transform into a smooth sauce by a process called deglazing. Deglazing is adding liquid, such as stock or wine, to a pan to loosen and dissolve the fond, which becomes the source of the major flavor for the sauce. In the case of non-stick pans, there will still be a bit of fond. To start a pan sauce, you will need to melt a pat of butter or add bit of oil to gather it.

So according to definition, pan sauces are descendants, principally, of the Demi-Glace and Au Buerre sauces. They are based on and fundamentally flavored by reduction from a food sautéed in butter or a similar substance, margarine or oil for example. The operative word here is ‘sautéed’ as opposed to fried. Frying foods may create a fond, but never a reduction.

So let’s take a closer look at these two founding, classic sauces. The full details are in Savvy Sauces and Gravies. These are ‘Cliff Notes’ on making pan sauces.

The Demi-Glace is the mother of all brown sauces.  It takes more time than the light sauces and requires more ingredients, but it’s simple to make and it freezes well to make other sauces on demand. The recipe calls for 2 onions and 2 carrots diced and in equal amounts, sautéed in ¼ lb. butter over low heat Periguex (Truffle) for about 30 mins, adding 1 Tbs. sugar for the last 10 mins. to caramelize the mix. Stir in 3 Tbs. flour and cook for 3 mins. until it begins to brown, then add: 3 cups stock: 2 cloves minced garlic, Bouquet Garni, 1 Tbs. tomato paste, pinch of salt, dash of pepper  and simmer for 1 hr. Strain into a clean pan, add 1 Tbs. Cognac and 1 Tbs. Madeira and brown food coloring if needed.  If freezing, omit the Cognac and Madeira until ready to use. 

Convenient commercial renditions of Demi-Glace reductions are bouillon, consommé and, for best results, many jarred products in a wide variety of price and quality. They’re great time savers making pan sauces a cinch for the busy cook, needing just to be dissolved, in directed amount, in the pan liquid.
1) In the first generation of offspring, the special ingredients for the specific dish are cooked in wine or vinegar and then add the master sauce. Special finishing ingredients, if required, are added later. Examples: Sauces Chateaubriand, Diablo and Diane.
2) In the second generation the special ingredients are cooked first in butter then reduced in wine or vinegar before adding the finished mother sauce. Examples: Chasseur, Duxelles, and Lyonnaise
3) In the third generation the special ingredients are simply added to the diluted master sauce. Examples: Madiera and Periguex (Truffle.) 
4)In successive generations of true Pan Sauces, after the pan is de-glazed, the special ingredients and then proper amount of master sauce reduction are dissolved in the pan fluid, seasonings added, stirred well and often a sliver of butter melted to give the sauce a silky fins

Sauces au Buerre or Butter Sauces are a huge category encompassing both cold and hot sauces. Cold butter sauces are called “Compounds.” Since almost anything can be added to butter to make a sauce, the possibilities are endless. Traditionally butter sauces, both hot and cold, were served only with hot foods, but compounds have become increasingly popular as spreads for canapés, sandwiches and other cold dishes which widened the field even further. The traditional add-ins  are anchovy paste, garlic, mashed capers, citrus zest and/or juice, garlic, herbs, toasted spices and nuts. 

We make both compounds and pan sauces up on the spur of the moment to fit what we’re cooking. So the best way to handle such an increasingly large, individualized subject is to establish the basics and let you experiment on your own. Compounds only connection with pan sauces is if they are used to sauté the main ingredients or added as a flavor additive and texture smother at the end. Therefore, in discussing pan sauces, the term ‘butter’ will include any compounds.

Always clarify the butter for hot Butter Sauces or the impurities will burn. Hot Butter Sauces are to be served with hot foods or they will unappetizingly congeal and they must be finished just before serving. However the butter can be clarified and reheated as the sauce is made. Hot butter sauces are popular with seafood, Brown butter sauces are used in recipes and as toppings for desserts and baked goods like pancakes. Hollandaise is a second generation butter sauce.

Pan sauces aren’t so fussy, although clarified butter is becoming popular. It’s healthier and gives the sautéed food a cleaner taste. Once the sautéing is over, the cooked food is removed and the pan is deglazed with broth, juice, wine, even cream. Be sure to use heavy cream or half and half, light cream and milk curdle. In the case of non-stick pans, it’s still advisable to start the deglazing by melting a pat of butter or adding a tablespoon of oil to gather the fond.

After deglazing, a flavorful reduction is dissolved in the liquid, a form of demi-glace for meats and vegetables often jelly for fruit, to give the sauce body and depth. Once the sauce is liquid, the finishing seasonings are added, the major food is returned to the pan and everything is heated through for serving. Vola! A Pan Sauce is born!

Once the hallmark of fine dining in restaurants, where dishes with elaborate, accented names were prepared to order at tableside, sauces have undergone a revolutionary transformation since the 1950s.They have gone from being ‘exclusive’ to  being the busy cooks best friend in getting dinner on fast. Partly this is due to our changed lifestyle. Most people work away from home; domestic kitchen help is extinct, eating nutritionally has become important and our culinary tastes have become far more sophisticated and international. We want lighter dishes, cooked in more interesting ways, in less time with less effort and prep.

Keeping pace with this change has been one in the butchering industry. Gone is the dependence on red meats and the larger cuts, the roasts, and veal has completely disappeared, not just from the markets but from restaurant menus as well. However, there are many popular veal dishes that people still wanted Marsala and Picatta to name two. Poultry, presented skinless and boneless, became a happy stand-in. Our meat counters are filled with chops, ‘tenders’ and a new selection of scaloppini unknown before, chicken, turkey and pork, all light, quick cooking cuts.

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In fact pork has become the third meat in the now popular meat trinity. “The other white meat.”appears in new, versatile cuts, vying for menu space modeling a variety of sauces; some, again, like Marsala and Paprika, associated with veal, but others like Normandy, from its own past, in updated renditions. Pork, however, is a problem for some people with dietary or medical restrictions. Although chicken provides a good substitute for pork in many dishes, some recipes are better made with turkey. Turkey with its slightly deeper flavor and affinity for many of the same herbs as pork, such as thyme and sage, can be a mirror replacement.

The revolution in butchering, which made this interchange of meats possible is phenomenal.  Chicken no longer comes in whole breasts or breast quarters with lots of bones. Pork is now offered in scaloppini style cutlets and 1-2 lb. fillet loins.  Most amazing of all is what’s being done with turkey. There are boneless breasts, cutlets, scaloppini, and fillet loins, not to forget ground. Turkey can really be used for anything that pork or veal is and some of beef as well.

The adaptability of these meats to sauces is due to their flavors, though unique to each, being, generally, mild enough to work well with complimentary or contrasting additions. Their popularity is due to the large variety of taste combinations they accept, but their practicality is two- fold. First, the new butchering style insures there will be a cut to fit your budget, and second, though ideally made from scratch in conjunction with a sauce, leftovers of these meats are excellent recycled in sauce.

Once you’ve begun to work with pan sauces, you take any recipes you come across in stride and find you develop a feeling what works and what doesn’t. You create your own formula and change it up or down as the occasion demands. It’s second nature, no sweat, a convenient tool, shortcut to getting a meal on the table. Soon you’ll be using cream to make a quick white sauce and finishing with sour cream to duplicate Eastern European dishes. Just remember, sour cream, and milk products, other than heavy cream and Half and Half curdle when boiled. 

Also don’t confuse white pan sauces with the creamy, labor intensive gourmet creations of classic haut cuisine. These are the working crew waiting to help at the end of the day. These are the guys who allow you to relax when asked;” What’s for dinner?” and even let you fit the flavor to the mood of the moment.

Pan sauces are more fluid by nature, but if the sauce seems too thin, ½ tsp. of cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbs. of the chosen liquid can be added. Stir until desired thickness is reached and proceed as directed. Flour doesn’t work as well. It doesn’t dissolve as completely and often results in a lumpy sauce.

I’m always on the lookout for ways to make cooking less labor intensive. Professionally, it’s expedient because there are time limits, and, personally, I like a relaxed approach. On a normal night, I allow 1 hour from prep to table for dinner, including time to change, or do chores or enjoy a glass of wine, easily done on a night when I’ve planned using a version of a sauce I’ve devised. It’s a bit unorthodox, but it works for me, and, perhaps, will for you as well.

BASIC RECIPE FOR SAUCE- STEP  ONE–2 SERVINGS
1 Tbs. butter—even for non-stick pans because only butter browns well
1 Tbs. canola oil-together with the butter it absorbs the essence of the meat and gives the sauce a base
1 Tbs. white wine or water – for deglazing
Garlic, chopped, powdered or fresh , if using, in stated amount or to taste
½ cup white wine, broth or juice—see note below*
½ tsp, bouillon, beef, chicken, vegetable or ham as suits recipe=Demi-Glace
2 portions of chosen meat-chops, cutlets etc.
Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat and brown meat, adding oil as needed to prevent sticking. Remove meat to a plate, turn heat down to medium and add onions to pan with any remaining oil. Sauté, stirring, until onions are soft, about 3 mins, adding garlic, if using, for last 30 secs.  Use the 1 Tbs. wine or water to partially deglaze and prevent sticking or burning. Remove pan from heat, add the ½ cup liquid and bouillon and completely deglaze.
*I prefer using white wine in making sauces, because it adds a depth of flavor with no alcoholic taste. Broth is often too weak, and juice contains sugar which may burn, or change the overall flavor. If using leftovers, skip the step with the butter and start with sautéing the onion in the oil. The meat will be added after deglazing. 

Either way this is a generic sauce base and you are free to choose the additional flavoring ingredients you want. When confronted with roast leftovers, I often make double this base, refrigerate half and make two completely different types of entrees, to avoid boredom.

STEP TWO—OPTIONS UNLIMITED
No matter what flavor sauce you choose, you will need:
At least 1/4 cup more liquid
Possibly 1 tsp. cornstarch
Probably 1 or 2 more flavor elements
What you want to avoid is a crammed ingredient list, especially if you will want to duplicate the sauce in the future.
Re-heat the meat in the sauce base over medium, then add options. If using leftovers, cook only until sauce is finished and meat is heated through depending on thickness and cut; usually, about 8 mins. Then add finishing flavor ingredients.

Here’s a bonus recipe to give you some ideas to start you on your way exploring the wide, wide world of sauces and their multiple uses.

 FRUIT SAUCES- For those who love the local produce, this a great way to use the bruised or slightly older fruits. It tastes fresher than commercial products, but lasts only about a week chilled.
1 pint of berries, cut if large, or peeled, sliced stone fruit (thick Slurry)
2 1/4 cups water- divided
Sweetener of choice to taste—this is a great recipe for diabetics!
Herbs-mint, lemon balm etc. to taste –optional
1 ½ Tbs. cornstarch
Dissolve the cornstarch in ¼ cup water. Simmer the fruit until soft in 2 cups water with the sweetener.  Add the herbs if using and then the cornstarch. Cook an additional 3 mins until sauce is thick. Use at once or store chilled in covered containers; Can be used as jam, as syrup for pancakes etc. or as a sauce.