Make a simple sauce right in the skillet

Last week, I showed you how to get your saute on.

This week, it's time to learn to make a simple sauce in the skillet. Honest, this is easy stuff!

Let's pretend for a moment you've just sauteed some chicken and veggies. The chicken is nicely cooked, as are your veggies. Pull the chicken and veggies from the pan and place on a warm plate and keep warm. (I turn my oven on to the lowest temp and then put a very loose foil tent on top of what I just sauteed. I don't tuck the sides of the foil in; just let it rest on top to preserve the heat. If you tuck it all in, it will steam and lose its sauteed appeal.) On the bottom of your pan, you're going to see all kinds of browned up stuff from the chicken and veggies, or what I refer to quite often as "browned goodie bobs." This is concentrated flavor that will make for an exquisite sauce.

To make sauce, you will need liquid. I like to add chicken broth (adds more flavor and body than just plain water). I also might add a little wine, depending on what I've just cooked. The deal is you're going to use the liquid to pull the stuff up off the bottom and incorporate into the liquid using your trusty wire whisk. We talked about whisks way back.

Anyway, you're going to crank the heat up somewhat (not too high or the liquid will all evaporate too fast) and whisk the bottom of the pan like your life depended on it. Your liquid will start to turn a little brown (from incorporating the goodie bobs) and next thing you know, you'll have something that starts to look like a sauce emerging. Now we're cooking! Isn't this the coolest? When I made my first sauce like this, I felt like I could do anything.

At this point, you may have enough liquid, too much liquid or not enough. The remedies are simple — if it's just right, pull it from the heat, arrange your chicken and veggies on a serving plate and pour a portion of the sauce over the top. If you have too much liquid, then you will bring your sauce down to a simmer (see below for a detailed explanation of a what simmer should look like) and let the sauce reduce via evaporation. Now if you let it reduce a lot, you'll make your sauce instead into a reduction (see below for more of a detailed explanation), which is just really a concentrated sauce, and for our purposes right now, you don't need to go there. If you don't have enough liquid, then add just a little more chicken broth (or your liquid of choice) and whisk away.

Whew! There you have it, Saute 101, complete with a lovely sauce. Are you feeling good about your skillet now? I hope so! Here's a recipe for practice:

Pork with Dijon Creme Sauce

4 pork chops