Suprêmes de Volaille au Parmesan

Suprêmes de Volaille au Parmesan (Parmesan-crusted chicken breasts) teaches the discipline of the sauté. Parmesan browns faster than chicken cooks, so the suprêmes must be even in thickness and the heat must remain moderate. Get that balance right and the coating turns deeply golden while the meat stays tender beneath it.

The original entry assumed a brigade tray of Polenta (No. 2294) already cold, a commis to shape the croûtons, and enough burners to cook every piece at once. It needs no stock kept on the fire and no separate sauce from a saucier; a salamander would only scorch the cheese. At home, one chilled polenta slab, one wide skillet used in sequence, and a low oven standing in for the holding cabinet do the same work. Four small breasts replace the brigade quantity, and their thick ends are gently flattened because modern market breasts are larger and less even.

The tray, spare hands, and extra burners are scaffolding, so they can go. The egg-and-Parmesan coating, the butter sauté, the clarified-butter croûtons, and the last-minute beurre noisette (nut-brown butter) are the dish, so every one stays. Before the first suprême meets the pan, make its thick end match its thin end; even thickness lets the cheese reach bronze at the same moment the chicken reaches tenderness.