Chef Juliette
The Preparation of Soups
Préparation des Potages teaches the first obligation of soup: it must announce the dinner in one clear, savory spoonful, then reach every guest fiercely hot in a properly warmed bowl.
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The Sautés
Created by Chef Juliette
Hot clarified butter, a snug pan, and honest deglazing turn chicken into the master lesson of the sauté: bronze the meat, preserve the fond, and make the sauce where the cooking happened.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Sauté de volaille (pan-sautéed chicken) teaches one true thing: the fond is the sauce. The chicken must be dry, the clarified butter properly hot, and the pan only large enough to hold the pieces. Too cool and the chicken steams. Too broad and the uncovered fat burns before the fond can become anything worth eating. The source calls the first hard coloring “frizzling,” but don't mistake that for scorching; you want a deep bronze crust and a brown glaze beneath it.
The professional method assumed a saucier and a prepared accompanying sauce waiting beside the stove. At home, one cup of unsalted chicken stock reduced directly over the fond replaces that standing sauce. The prepared sauce was brigade scaffolding. Dry cooking, butter basting, a snug pan, and déglacer (loosening the fond with wine) are the dish itself, and all of them stay. This version is scaled to four people: one cook, one stove, one evening.
Dry every piece thoroughly before it meets the pan. That is the step that decides everything. A wet surface cannot color promptly, and without proper color there is no fond, no sauce, and no honest sauté.
The sauté belongs not to one province but to the shared grammar of the Parisian classical kitchen and the French cuisine bourgeoise table, where small pieces of meat were cooked quickly and their pan deposits made to pay for the sauce. Déglacer traveled easily from the professional sautoir, a straight-sided sauté pan, to the household skillet because the principle required attention rather than elaborate equipment. The traditional explanation said fierce heat sealed in juices; browning does not seal meat, but it builds the crust and fond while disciplined cooking protects the chicken from drying out.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken
Quantity
1, about 3½ lb (1.6 kg)
cut through the joints into 8 pieces
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 1.5 g)
clarified butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g)
divided, with half kept cold and cubed
dry white wine
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 120 g)
unsalted chicken stock
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 240 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chickencut through the joints into 8 pieces | 1, about 3½ lb (1.6 kg) |
| fine sea salt | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 1.5 g) |
| clarified butter | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided, with half kept cold and cubed | 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) |
| dry white wine | ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
| unsalted chicken stock | 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) heavy ovenproof sauté pan
- •Long-handled spoon for basting
- •Tongs
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Warm oval serving platter
Instructions
- 1
Dry and season
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Pat every chicken piece completely dry, including the folds beside the joints, then season evenly with the salt and pepper. Leave the chicken uncovered while the pan heats so its surface stays dry. Wet chicken cannot take immediate color, and immediate color is what separates a sauté from chicken quietly boiling in its own juices.
Ask the butcher to divide the chicken through its joints rather than sawing through bone. Clean joints cook evenly and leave no splinters in the pan sauce. - 2
Saisir the chicken
Set a 12-inch (30 cm) heavy ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the clarified butter and wait until it flows freely and shimmers. Saisir (sear) the chicken skin-side down, arranging the pieces in one snug layer without stacking them. Leave them undisturbed for 5 to 7 minutes, until the skin is deep bronze and releases cleanly, then turn and color the second side for 3 minutes. If a piece clings, don't pry at it; give it another minute and the crust will release when it is ready.
Pan size is part of the recipe. A crowded pan traps moisture, while a broad empty one scorches the exposed fond. The pieces should sit close together without overlapping. - 3
Baste and finish
Add 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the unsalted butter. As it foams, tilt the pan and spoon the butter repeatedly over the chicken, then turn every piece skin-side up and place the pan in the oven, uncovered. Baste once more after 8 minutes. Begin checking the breast pieces after 12 minutes and remove each piece when its thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C), without touching bone. Let the thighs and drumsticks continue to 170 to 175°F (77 to 79°C), usually another 5 to 8 minutes, so their connective tissue softens. Use the thermometer, not the color of the juices; accuracy is the honest home equivalent of a brigade cook judging dozens of birds each service.
The uncovered finish and butter basting must stay. Covering the pan would turn the dry sauté into a moist cooking method and soften the skin you worked to brown. - 4
Rest and degrease
Transfer the cooked chicken to a warm platter, skin-side up, and cover it loosely while the sauce is made. Pour the clear cooking fat into a heatproof bowl, leaving the brown glaze attached to the pan. Keep brown deposits and remove isolated black specks. If the entire glaze has burned, don't make a bitter sauce from it; wipe the pan clean and reduce the wine and stock without the fond. You lose some depth, but dinner is saved.
- 5
Déglacer the pan
Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the white wine. Let it boil while you scrape the pan firmly with a wooden spoon, dissolving every brown deposit into the liquid. Reduce the wine to about 3 tablespoons (45 ml), when its raw alcoholic smell has softened, then add the chicken stock. Boil steadily for 6 to 9 minutes, until roughly ⅔ cup (160 ml) remains and the sauce lightly coats a spoon. If it is thin, keep reducing. If it becomes too salty or sharp, loosen it with a tablespoon of water and taste again.
- 6
Monter the sauce
Take the pan off the heat. Monter au beurre (finish with butter) by whisking in the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of cold butter, one cube at a time, until the sauce turns glossy and softly thickened. Don't boil it now or the emulsion may split. If oily droplets appear, whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) of cold water off the heat. Ça se rattrape. Taste for seasoning, then return the chicken skin-side up for only 1 to 2 minutes, just long enough to warm it in the sauce without softening its crust. Arrange it on the platter with the sauce pooled beneath and around the pieces. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose a modest chicken weighing about 3½ pounds (1.6 kg), not an enormous roasting bird. Smaller joints fit the pan properly, cook at a sensible pace, and let the breast and legs finish without drifting too far apart.
- •Clarified butter tolerates the first fierce heat because its milk solids have been removed. Whole butter joins later for basting and for monter au beurre, where its flavor and emulsifying power matter. Margarine belongs nowhere near this pan.
- •Use dry wine with clean acidity, not sweet cooking wine. A Mâconnais Chardonnay works beautifully and can be poured at the table with the finished chicken.
- •Serve with potatoes roasted separately, buttered noodles, or bread sturdy enough to gather the sauce. Keep the accompaniment quiet; the fond has already done the talking.
- •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use them within 3 days. Reheat the chicken gently to 165°F (74°C), then whisk the sauce off the heat if its butter separates.
Advance Preparation
- •The chicken can be divided and left uncovered on a tray in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours. This dries the skin and gives the sauté a better beginning; season it shortly before cooking.
- •Clarified butter can be prepared up to 2 weeks ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •Measure the wine and stock before the chicken enters the pan. The sauce itself cannot be made ahead, because its foundation is the fond produced during cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 340g)
Calories
560 calories
Total Fat
37 g
Saturated Fat
16 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
190 mg
Sodium
1320 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
52 g
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