Searing Inspiration – Swiss Diamond Braiser & Immersion Blender
December 6, 2018 by JennyThere are certain tools in my cookware arsenal that I use repeatedly: a chef’s pan and my immersion blender. Equally, there are two techniques that I rely on to bring flavor and variety to my meals – a great sear (to quote Anne Burrell “brown food tastes good” and a luscious sauce. Susan Volland’s books Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors and her latest, Searing Inspiration: Fast, Adaptable Entrées and Fresh Pan Sauces cover both of these techniques brilliantly.
For over two decades, Susan wrote for magazines, developed
original recipes for corporations, ran behind-the-scenes food
production for television shows, worked alongside world-class
scientists and food innovators (Modernist Cuisine, Modernist Cuisine
at Home), and taught as an adjunct professor at a culinary
college. Mastering
Sauces clocked in at nearly 500 pages with 400 plus
recipes and named Best of 2015 by the WAPO, Chicago Sun Times and
Seattle Times. This title is my go to for sauce inspiration.
Two year laters, she continues to inspire with Searing Inspiration which shares nearly 70
recipes for fast entrées and pan sauces. All the sauces in
this book are built on a base of “fond” those sticky brown bits
left in the pan that we non-chefs learned about on Food
Network.
This title is going straight to my kitchen bookshelf so I can
refer to it often. Week days are packed (and let’s be honest so are
weekends), so when time is crunched, I will whip up some kielbasa
and a simple side dish. Susan has a recipe to level up that to-go
emergency meal – kielbasa with ketchup and curry sauce. Now I won’t
feel so guilty when I have to resort to kielbasa.
There is a pork roast in the oven as I’m working on this piece and
instead of going the easy route with barbecue sauce – I’m going to
whip up the sour cream and sauerkraut sauce from Searing Inspiration to serve with my
roast. This will be something new and exciting instead of the same
old pulled pork.
Susan is sharing one of her recipes below with our members and I think that just might be tomorrow’s dinner because it looks fantastic.
Chicken with garlic, greens, and salty
cheese
Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue
+Bookshelf button).
Bonne femme is a classic French cooking term that once described recipes made with ingredients that a “good woman” would always have on hand. I ran into the term again recently and it had me wondering what today’s busy cooks might create from contemporary kitchen staples. I started with a list of ingredients my friends often buy: chicken, olive oil, garlic, greens, cheese, and nuts. Then I played around until I landed on this quick, satisfying seared and sauced dish. The salty cheese can be virtually any dry, aged, or crumbly cheese. I like toasted almonds here, but pistachios, walnuts, pepitas, and pine nuts also work well.
This sauce also goes well with: salmon, whole trout, pork chops, eggplant, and rustic bread (refer to the tables on pages 208-26 for cooking tips).
Yield: 2 large or 4 moderate servings
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds (450 to 675 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2), sliced and pounded into thin scaloppini (see page 87)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose or rice flour for dredging (optional)
- About 2 tablespoons neutral, olive, or avocado oil
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1 cup loosely packed chopped hearty greens, such as kale, chard, or arugula
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pats or small cubes (or substitute extra-virgin olive oil)
- 2 tablespoons grated or crumbled salty cheese, such as feta, ricotta salata, aged goat cheese, or Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons toasted almonds, coarsely chopped (optional)
Prep
Pat the chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour, if using, and pat off the excess.
SEAR
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, swirl in enough oil to coat the bottom. Arrange the chicken in the pan so the pieces are evenly spaced. They should sizzle the moment they touch the hot oil. (If there is not enough room in the pan for all of the pieces, cook them in batches, wiping the pan clean and starting with fresh oil as needed.) Brown the chicken on the first side, about 3 minutes, then flip, reduce the heat slightly, and brown the other side. The chicken doesn’t need to be completely cooked through at this point. Transfer the chicken to a clean platter and keep warm while you make the sauce.
SAUCE
Discard the cooking oil and analyze the pan residue. Remove any unappealing bits or scorched flour and cool the pan slightly, then return the skillet to medium heat. Add some oil if the pan is very dry. Add the garlic and chile flakes and cook for about 20 seconds, until the aroma of the garlic has bloomed but it has not browned. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, being careful not to inhale the fumes, or they may make you cough. Use a wooden spoon to dissolve the brown residue on the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and simmer until the aroma of raw alcohol is gone and the volume has reduced by about half. Add the chicken stock, return the chicken and any collected juices to the skillet, and simmer, flipping the chicken regularly, until it is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Lift the chicken onto a clean platter or plates.
Simmer the sauce for a minute or two longer, until it is the consistency of gravy. It will thin slightly once the greens and butter are added. Stir in the greens, along with a pinch each of salt and pepper, and cook until they have just wilted but are still bright, about 30 seconds. Finish the sauce by stirring in the cold butter, a few pieces at a time, until just melted (or stir in the olive oil). Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
Spoon the sauce onto the chicken and sprinkle with the cheese and the almonds, if using. Serve immediately.
Recipe excerpt used with permission of the author, photograph by Angie Norwood Browne from Searing Inspiration, ©2018
Swiss Diamond has been very generous to our members with
providing their products in our promotions. Today, they are
offering in our giveaway below one of their Chef Pans with
Lid and their Jet Mix Immersion Blender in Black. A
high-quality pan is essential in searing and whipping up sauces.
The chef’s pan can be used for any number of dishes from searing up
a steak to throwing together a one pot meal.
One of the tools I often go to is an immersion blender. Face it,
even the best chefs can end up with a lumpy gravy that needs to be
rescued. I use my immersion blender for sauces and soups, purees
and more. Instead of transferring a soup to stand blender and
having to clean another piece of cookware, the immersion blender
works beautifully. Swiss Diamond’s Jet Mix Immersion Blender
includes four interchangeable attachments: mixer, multi-purpose
blade, whisk, & beater as well as a mini chopper.
I also love Swiss Diamond’s stainless steel pans: 8 inch fry pan ,9.5-inch fry pan, 11 inch fry pan which are at an incredible price on Amazon at the links shared. Susan’s book and one of these pans would be a great gift under the tree for any cook.
Special thanks to Susan who has provided an autographed copy of both of her books and to Swiss Diamond for providing their remarkable products in our giveaway below.
The author is providing a set of her books and Swiss Diamond is providing one of their Chef’s Pan with Lid and one Jet Mix Immersion Blender in Black for one EYB member in the US. Two of our entry options are to answer the following questions in the comments section of this blog post.
Which recipe in the index would you try first?
Visit Swiss Diamond’s web page and leave a comment as to which of their products you would like to try.
Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on January 22nd, 2019.
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