Sauté Cooking, Pan Frying, Stir Fries, know that if you try these cooking techniques with little or no experience there’s a good chance the recipe won’t come out like you expected. No one wants to read an encyclopedia for a recipe right? Here are a few tips to help you succeed like a pro. First of all choose your cooking vessel and look at its make-up, your sauté pan or saucepot; is it just a thin layer of metal or heavy bottomed? A Wok; usually made of thin carbon steel. Cast iron cook wear; very heavy and a good even conductor of heat.
Next glimpse through your recipe and ingredients and figure out the best process for assembling the dish.The French chefs use a “Mise en Place” system of laying out your ingredients to facilitate a fast cooking process. You can use that idea to carry you through other cooking methods as well. That’s why you use a Wok for stir-fries; it’s a quick and easy cooking medium for quick cooked dishes. When sauté cooking if you just throw everything in the pan at once with out pre-cooking certain ingredients, you can end up with textural problems, raw or overcooked food. For example trying to cook a raw chicken breast in the pan the same time as minced garlic, the garlic will burn long before the chicken is fully cooked. So the key here is to add the elements in an order that they will all cook correctly and keep their integrity.
Damien DiPaola chef, restauranteur, and actor said “Control your Flame, Don’t let your Flame Control You”. Also very important in this type of cooking, is knowing when to cook over a high heat or reduce the heat a bit lower, to ensure slower even cooking. So follow these guidelines whenever possible so you can be the best possible “Sauté Chef”
Sautéing:
- Means quick cooking in a small amount of oil, so always preheat pan and oil first. Use a sauté pan or frying pan with a handle and low sides, and don’t overcrowd the pan. These things can result in the food steaming instead of crispier sautéed results. Food should sizzle when it hits the pan and room temperature food browns and cooks better then chilled foods. If working in batches remove the food with a slotted spoon to keep flavored cooking oils and juices in the pan. Spoon out excess grease or use a bulb-baster. If making a sauce by deglazing and adding liquid you will be able to skim off excess fat on top of your sauce as it simmers.
Stir-Frying:
- Very quick cooking like sautéing in a small amount of oil. If you don’t have a wok use a pan that will conduct heat quickly and evenly like a thin carbon steel pan or cast iron pan. Season the pan by heating oil and letting it cool, Then rub oil into the cooking surface with a paper towel. After washing you must re-season the pan again to prevent rusting. Like sautéing you must pre-heat the oil first and not overcrowd the pan or wok. Try and cut meats into bite sized strips and vegetables into matchsticks or similar sized pieces to ensure even cooking. Par boil or cook dense vegetables like potatoes and carrots.
Pan Frying:
- Cooking in more oil or fat, there are two types deep frying (submerging in totally in the oil) or shallow frying (pan-frying). Pre-heat oil and pan, best to start on medium high then reduce as needed. If doing a lot of deep frying try and get a deep frying temperature and cook between 300 – 360 degrees. Always be careful of spattering, and never fill oil up more than ¾ full in pot it can bubble over. Using a slotted spoon or spider try and remove any extra larger items in grease. Strain oil through a sieve or coffee filter carefully, to remove overcooked food particles. If grease starts to smoke excessively it has broken down and cannot be re-used. Otherwise store oil in the refrigerator for another use.
Chicken Marsala Recipe:
This recipe is for an Italian style chicken Marsala but it is versatile just by slightly changing the ingredients. If you change the wine to burgundy you will have a French Chicken Burgundy, add a white wine like Pinot Grigio and it is a Chicken Bianco. Then change to Sake and use shiitake mushrooms and you have an Asian dish, the possibilities are endless.
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano or parsley
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine
- 1/2 cup chicken consommé
- Additional 1/2 tablespoon butter (optional)
Directions:
- Combine the flour, salt, pepper and oregano or parsley. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
- In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place dredged chicken breasts in the pan, and brown nicely for about 2 minutes.
- Turn the chicken over and add mushrooms, letting the mushrooms absorb the butter.
- Pour in the Marsala wine and chicken consummé. Cover and reduce to a simmer cooking until the breasts are no longer pink and juices run clear.
- For added viscosity to the sauce swirl in the additional 1/2 tablespoon of butter off the heat at the end of the cooking process.
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