In this episode, Chef Jacob talks gravy and reductions sauces, including how to get a shiny, smooth sauce, why simmering gravies is important, and how to make a quick gravy using the pan drippings from a roasting pan.
When I originally posted this recipe on Free Culinary School, it was a throw away post. I never thought that simple, braised chicken thighs would ever garner so much attention. It turned out to be my most re-created recipe and most commented post.
Consommé...the old school Frenchy soup with crystal clarity and robust flavors that dwells in the nightmares of culinary school students around the world. While feared and loathed for it’s finicky nature by young cooks, consommé really isn’t scary once you understand the basic concepts behind making it, and how a clarification raft works.
In it’s most basic form, braising consists of a tough cut of meat with a lot of connective tissue, combined with liquid, aromatic vegetables and fresh herbs; this mixture is then cooked in a low oven until they becomes tender. The connective tissue responsible for the chewy texture is collagen, which is a triple helix of gelatin. When moisture along with slow, steady heat are applied, the triple helix unravels into three individual gelatin strands, leaving gaps in the muscle tissue it used to bind together, giving the impression of tenderness.
Rib Eye is one of my favorite steaks to cook and eat. In this video, I show you a simple preparation that calls for pan searing the steak on both sides, and then we end the video with a simple, mushroom reduction sauce.
This video demonstrates how we prepare and cook our sous vide chicken breast that we're currently serving with sauted spring vegetables and a reduced shallot jus.
The chicken breast is first brined for 24 hours in a 5% brine and then rinsed. Next, the chicken breast is vacuum packed individually and cooked sous vide in 60ºC/140ºF water bath for 4 hours. On "the pickup," the chicken breast is cut out of the sous vide package and the skin is pressed into rice flour and then pan fried in chicken fat.
What makes this sous vide chicken breast great ...
This video will demonstrate how to concentrate a stock by reducing and reinforcing its flavors. This concentrated stock can then be used to make "a la minute" sauces, such as a pan reduction sauce. Although this process is demonstrated with chicken stock, it is the exact same method used when working with other meat based stocks such as veal, pork and lamb.
This video demonstrates one technique for finishing our sous vide chicken roulade that we made in a previous video.
In this video, learn how to make a basic pan reduction sauce using stock. A pan sauce works great for any number of pan roasted meats including steak, poultry, lamb and pork.
In this episode of The Stella Culinary School Podcast, we finish our five part mother sauce series with a lesson on Sauce Espagnole. Also known as Sauce Brown, Espagnole is the base inspiration for modern day demis and pan sauces. In the discussion segment we go over the evolution of Escoffier's version of Espagnole into modern day demi-glace, and in the culinary quick tip, the three components you need to finish a pan sauce for optimum flavor balance.
