Why Pan Sauces make the perfect weeknight meals

so i was brainstorming the intro for this video just listing out the ways that i think pan sauces change your life and when i got to washes your pan for you i knew that was it if that alone is not enough to make you want to incorporate pan sauces into your life you've got high standards i guess but anyway in today's video we're first going to cover the pan sauce blueprint including the five key components that make them up before i walk through two different pan sauces one is a red wine based sauce that goes over a steak and the second one is a chicken-based one that goes over my current favorite healthy meal probably the best chicken breast you can make in 15 minutes also a big thank you to maiden for sponsoring today's video but first let's answer what exactly makes up a pan sauce in its simplest form a pan sauce is made by first searing some kind of meat or vegetable in a pan this searing typically leaves behind a mix of fat drippings and some brown protein bits that are a bit stuck to the pan this is known as the fond and it has a ton of flavor because it's the same brownie and that's on the exterior of whatever we just got done searing to make that into a pan sauce you just keep the pan on the heat and add any liquid i'm legit using water here and as it reduces this will mix up the leftover fat fond and water providing you with a pan sauce in its simplest form so you may be thinking this is a pretty trash pan sauce and yeah i would tend to agree but he actually adds some butter to this and a little bit of salt turns into something quite good but i wanted to start here with the pan sauce in its simplest form because it really showcases the concept of what we're trying to do when we add that liquid into the pan it lifts off the fawn and mixed with those fat drippings too and it captures that flavor into our sauce which we can then apply to meats or vegetables but now that we have the simplest form out of the way we are ready to learn about the pan sauce blueprint which has five key components a typical pan sauce is gonna have four elements and a fifth one that is optional depending on how you make it so first up we have the fond then the liquid the fat the flavor additions and the thickeners so as i mentioned the fond on the pan could be from steak chicken pork lamb or vegetables even the liquid could be plain water but commonly used items are stalks red or white wine water milk cream or even coffee i've never had red eye gravy with ham but it's apparently a thing the fat is most commonly butter used for its richness and it's great for emulsifying with the liquid but cream or other fats could be used too now the flavor additions are split into santa aromatics added before the liquid and flavor finishers added after the liquid such as fresh herbs lemon juice or a variety of sauces like soy sauce gochujang or dijon mustard then lastly we have the thickeners which are things like flour corn starch or gelatin and are used to dial in the consistency of the sauce everyone's gonna have their own thickness preferences but a slightly viscous sauce definitely provides a luxurious meal so keep these five components in mind as we walk through the pan sauces and first up we have this delicious and classic red wine pan sauce that pairs perfectly with a steak to start set a pan over medium high heat with a little drizzle of oil once that's hot add your steak of choice and just sear it to your desired doneness so while the steak is cooking here are my pan sauce components for the liquid i have a red wine and some chicken stock for the fat our good friend butter for the flavor additions i have some minced shallot minced parsley and black pepper and then optionally that thickener i do have some cornstarch slurry which i may or may not use so back at the pan that steak is nice and seared off and just pull it off and let it rest for about five minutes during which we'll clean our pan or make our pan sauce so turn the heat to medium and then toss in the minced shallot to toast while stirring that for just about 30 seconds and then go ahead and add in 100 milliliters or about a half cup of red wine using a spatula scrub that pan and the fawn should release right off and now we're going to reduce this wine until it's about a half or a third and it leaves a nice trail behind one to two minutes so while we're waiting for whatever is happening on screen right now let me tell you about the sponsor of today's video maiden who also made this carbon steel frying pan that you're going to see all throughout the video so made in just makes in my opinion the best high quality professional grade kitchen equipment for home cooks and professionals alike and specifically this carbon steel pan is one of my favorites it's a great all-around pan you can use it for syrian steaks meats anything like that but once you get it well seasoned it actually acts like a non-stick pan too so it's great for super delicate things as well and then to clean this it's super easy like after the pan sauce all i did was run it under the water give it like one little wipe with a sponge and then it was ready dried it off and then if it looks a little bit dry sometimes they'll add like a dot of oil and just kind of rub that into the surface but other than that that's it it's super easy to use it's lightweight one of my favorite pans to use in the kitchen so if you want to pick up this specific pan or anything that made in offers my viewers are getting 15 off using my code down below so check out the description um yeah but thank you again made in for sponsoring this video now back at the pan you can see that wine has reduced way down so next pour in 100 milliliters or about a half cup of chicken stock and we're going to let this reduce down as well since i'm using a homemade chicken stock it does have a lot of gelatin in it compared to a store-bought version and should thicken up and give me the viscosity that i want but i do have these cornstarch slurry ready if i do want to dial in my consistency so after the wine has been in there lastly i'm going to drop in 30 grams or two tablespoons of butter and slowly work around and emulsify that into the wine liquid which is going to make the sauce a bit more creamy and round out those edges at this point i do want my sauce to be a little bit thicker so i do go ahead and add a splash of that cornstarch slurry in there and just dial in the consistency to what i prefer and i do want it to kind of coat the back of the spoon once it's at the desired thickness go ahead and add the flavor finishers which for me this was just some fresh minced parsley and a bunch of black pepper before adding that to the steak and slathering it with our sauce so as simple as pan sauces are my number one gripe with them is that they tend to have a lot of fat at least most recipes do this one alone has a couple tablespoons of butter so of course it's going to taste pretty good but i think really once you understand how to make them you can customize them to your needs and for me i like using them on healthier foods which is exactly what you'll see in the grilled chicken we're about to make to start get out a chicken breast and flip it over add cross cuts to the breast which will help thin it out and also create some cool little edges for us to get some texture and browning on the chicken next add salt to both sides and typically i'll let this dry brine in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight if i remember to when you are ready to cook though set a pan over medium high heat and add some oil enough to coat the pan in a thin layer once that's hot slide the chicken in and really sear it well on both sides so we get some deep browning i'm shooting to cook this until the internal temperature reaches around 150 to 155 degrees at the thickest point then i pull it off and set it aside while we do the pan sauce again remember those five components from earlier first i'm going to toss in a couple cloves of minced garlic and also some minced rosemary and just toast that all together for about 30 seconds next pour about 200 milliliters of stock which again this is a homemade chicken stock so it does have a lot of gelatin and i'm gonna bring this up to a simmer and reduce it way down again i have my cornstarch slurry ready if i need it to dial in that consistency and thickness and then finally for the flavor additions i'm just going to hit this one with some lemon juice for brightness and a bunch of fresh cracked black pepper then all we have to do is slice up that beautifully brown chicken put it on our plate add it with some roasted potatoes and asparagus and finally spread that sauce over the top [Music] all right everybody so hopefully this video was a great introduction to pan sauces for you again millions of ways to make them with whatever ingredients you want but incorporating them is super easy because you typically are waiting for your meat to rest a bit anyway and that is just the right amount of time to make a pan sauce or just a you know a way to wash your pan like we mentioned so i'm going to dive into this plate both of these recipes will be up on my website um highly recommend giving this chicken a shot it's amazing but it's going to wrap it up for me in this one i'll catch y'all on the next one peace y'all that was good bro that's a winner of a dinner right there isn't it so simple too it's like a 20-minute dinner right there faster

Channel: Ethan Chlebowski

Views: 1,022,652

Keywords: Ethan Chlebowski, Red wine pan sauce recipe, sauce recipes to go with steak, what sauce goes well with steak, how to make a sauce for your steak, easy pan sauce recipe, how to make a simple pan sauce, how to use pan sauces, red wine pan sauce, chicken pan sauce, steak pan sauce, pan sauce for chicken, pan sauce for steak, how to make pan sauces, how to make a pan sauce, steak recipe, chicken recipe

Id: _WA9vmEsFEI

Length: 9min 16sec (556 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 01 2022