In mon pays, when a girl marries and leaves her mother's home for her own, she always takes with her at least one sauteuse, the shallow, black iron pan that, we call a skillet, or frying pan. Without it, how could she manage to prepare the poulet sauté or côtelettes de porc or escalopes de veau, which her good man expects to find on his table? How could she cook the fish he catches? What would she do with the thin minute steaks which thrifty French women make a virtue of, for lack of the thicker cuts more suitable for broiling? Evidemment, no French cook could possibly manage without a sauteuse.
So you see why I was so shocked to read recently that American women are being urged to throw away their frying pans. It would be better, I should think. that they learn how to make proper use of them so that they, too, can produce the wonderful plats sautés for which France is famous. Sautéing is particularly popular in France because it is a type of cooking which can be done on any stove and with a minimum amount of any fuel, that commodity so scarce in France even in the best of times.
My mother's sauteuses had sides that flared a little and very long handles, because they had been passed down in her family from the rime when most cooking was done in open fireplaces, and long-handled pans were essential. Generations of use with fat and heat had seasoned them well, and seasoning is important to iron pans, which rust easily and do not cook so well when they are new.
There are many dishes prepared in a sauteuse, or skillet, but the most important of them—and one which every good cook should be able to make—is the poulet sauté.
Many a poulet sauté my mother and my grandmother used to cook, usually in the simple à la française style, and I learned much from them. But it was on my first job. at the Hotel du Rhin in Paris, that I learned all the chef's tricks—how to fix the leg and second joint so that they lie flat in the pan and brown evenly, how important it is to cook the skin side first, and what dreadful fate befalls the sauces if the chicken or its juices are allowed to scorch even faintly.
M. Gaunard, the chef saucier at the Hôtel du Rhin, was my teacher, and a kind, if exacting, master. I remember my first poulet sauté florentine. I was so anxious for it to be perfect that I must have washed the spinach nearly a hundred times, and I ate pounds of the stuff, chewing the leaves to make sureno sand lurked there. I put my heart into that dish, and when M. Gaunard tasted the sauce and pronounced it good, I felt for the first time that I could see the higher rungs of the ladder I wanted so desperately to climb.
What I learned from M. Gaunard I taught to hundreds of chefs during my years at the old Ritz-Carlton, and many a fine poulet sauté in this country owes its good flavor and succulence to lessons learned in that roomy old citchen below-Stain at Madison Avenue at Forty-sixth Street.
To Prepare Chicken for Sautéing
Clean and singe a young chicken. Remove the legs and second joints in one piece and dégagéz—that is, loosen—the skin at the end of the leg and push it back a bit so that the bone protrudes. This prevents the drying of the thin layer of meat at the end of the bone. Lay the chicken skin side down on a board and with the dull edge of a large knife blade crack through the cartilage between the leg and second joint. Remove the second-joint bone by pulling it out at the exposed end. Make an incision down the underside of the leg. The whole piece will then lie flat in the pan and will cook more evenly. Cut off the wings. Remove the breast meat in three pieces, one from each side and one from the front. Leave the back in one piece: It doesn't offer much to ear, but it flavors the sauce and makes a support against which you can arrange the legs, breasts, and wings on the serving platter. Dry each piece of chicken thoroughly and season it with a little salt and pepper. Dredge the pieces in flour, if you like, but be sure to shake off the surplus Hour, or the loose bits will scorch in the pan and spoil the appearance and flavor of the sauce.
A heavy metal pan is essential for the even browning and cooking that marks a well-prepared sauté. A light pan is apt to burn the food. The kind of fat used for sautéing depends upon personal preference. In fine cooking, butter is preferred, but it is always clarified first—the butter is melted, and then poured off, leaving the milky sediment which settles in the pan. Some cooks like to use salad oil; others prefer fresh drippings. But if either of these is used, the oil or fat must be poured off when the chicken is almost cooked, and butter added to the pan to complete the cooking and to make the sauce. One trick in sautéing chicken is not to have the fat too hot. At the Ritz we often put the chicken on clarified butter spread in a warm pan and moved the pan away from the hot part of the range. On a home stove the heat should be turned down or an asbestos pad put under the pan. And finally, always cook the skin side first to a perfect, appetizing brown. Then turn the chicken and continue to cook until it is tender. The underside may be a little pale, or perhaps slightly overbrown; it won't matter because that side is nor seen when the chicken is served.
Poulet Sauté Bercy
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken for sautéing. In a large frying pan spread 3 tablespoons butter and arrange the pieces of chicken skin side down on it. Cook the chicken over medium heat until the skin side is golden brown, turn the pieces, and continue to cook, partly covered, for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the breast meat, which cooks first, to a hot serving platter and cook the remaining pieces for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until they are tender. Test for doneness by piercing the thickest part of the second joint with a fork.The juice that runs out should be clear, with no pink tinge. Remove the remaining chicken to the planer, and to the juices in the pan add 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots or onion and 1 teaspoon flour. Stir in ¼ cup white wine, ¼ cup chicken broth, and 3 tablespoons tomato sauce (see April, 1952), and add salt and pepper. Cook the sauce for a few minutes, stirring, until it is slightly thickened. Return the chicken 10 the pan to keep it hot until ready to serve. Arrange the chicken on the serving platter, strain the sauce around it, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté Florentine
Prepare a poulet sauté Bercy. Sauté 1 ½ pounds well-cleaned, cooked, and drained spinach in 2 tablespoons butter for 3 to 4 minutes, Make a bed of the spinach on a serving planer and arrange the chicken on it with cooked, sliced mushrooms or pieces of foie gras and slices of truffle on top. Pour the sauce over all. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté Printanière
In a saucepan combine 2 cups shelled peas, 8 small spring onions, ½ cup diced Carrots, 5 or 6 leaves of lettuce, shredded, ¼ cup water, ¼ teaspoon salt, I tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and a fagot made by tying together 3 sprigs each of parsley and chervil. Cover closely and cook over a good fire for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until most of the water has cooked away. Discard the fagot. Prepare a poulet sauté Bercy and reserve half the sauce to serve separately. Add the vegetables to the chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter with the vegetables and the sauce around it and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon chopped parsley. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté Chasseur
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken for sautéing. In a frying pan heat 2 tablespoons salad oil and arrange the pieces of chicken skin side down in it.Cook the chicken until it is brown, turn the pieces, and cook until they are brown on the other side. Add ¼ pound mushrooms, cleaned and sliced, and continue to cook until the mushrooms are tender. Remove the chicken and drain off the oil from the pan, but leave the mushrooms. Add 2 tablespoons butter. and when it is melted, add 1 tablespoon chopped shallots and 1 teaspoon Hour and cook, stirring, until the flour is golden. Add ¼ cup white wine and continue to cook until the wine is reduced to half. Stir in ¾ cup cooked tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until the chicken is done. Arrange the chicken on a serving dish. Correct the seasoning of the sauce with salt, add 1 teaspoon mixed, finely chopped tarragon, chervil, and parsley leaves and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté à la Française
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken for sautéing. Spread 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan and arrange the pieces of chicken skin side down on it. Cook over medium hear until the skin is golden brown. Turn the pieces and continue to cook, partly covered, until they are light brown on the other side.
Meanwhile, parboil 4 carrots and 4 onions, both thinly sliced, in a little water with 1 teaspoon sugar for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain the vegetables and add them to the chicken with 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped parsley. Add 1 cup cream and cook very slowly for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and finish the sauce with 1 to 2 tablespoons cream sauce (see March, 1952) and 1 tablespoon brandy. Season with salt and pepper to taste, Pour sauce and vegetables over the chicken. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté Portugaise
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken For sautéing. In a large frying pan Spread 2 tablespoons butter and arrange the pieces of chicken skin side down on it. Cook over medium heat until the skin is golden brown. Turn the pieces and cook, partly covered, until they are brown on the other side. Add 1 tablespoon chopped shallots or onion and Continue to cook slowly for a few minutes. Add 1 teaspoon flour, 1 clove garlic, crushed. ¼ cup white wine, ½ cup stock or leftover chicken gravy, and ½ cup cooked tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the chicken to another pan and Strain the sauce over it. Add A to 6 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, and cook 10 to 15 minutes longer. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter, pour the sauce over it. and sprinkle with I tablespoon of chopped parsley. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté Bordelaise
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken for sautéing. In a large frying pan spread 3 tablespoons butter and arrange 'he pieces of chicken skin side down on it. Cook over medium heat until the skin is golden brown. Turn the pieces and cook, partly covered, for 25 to 30 minutes. Arrange the breast pieces on a serving platter and continue to cook the remaining pieces for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until they arc done. Remove the remaining pieces to the platter with the breast meat, and into the juices in the pan stir 1 teaspoon flour, 1 tablespoon chopped shallots or onion, and a generous 1/3 cup red wine and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened. Return the pieces of chicken to the pan and simmer for a minute or two. Arrange the chicken on a serving dish and garnish with French-fried onion rings and parsley, artichoke bottoms sautéed until tender in butter, and potatoes rissolées. Correct the seasoning of the sauce and pour it over the chicken. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté aux Morilles
Wash 1 pound morilles very thoroughly, making sure to wash every bit of Sand from the crevices. Cook them in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, a few spoonfuls of water, and a little salt for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until almost all the water has evaporated.
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken for sautéing. In a large frying pan spread 3 tablespoons butter and arrange the pieces of chicken skin side down on it. Cook over medium heat until the skin is brown. Turn the pieces and cook, partly covered, for about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the breast meat to a hot serving platter and cook the remaining pieces for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until they are done. Remove the remaining pieces to the platter with the breast meat, and to the juices in the pan add I tablespoon chopped shallots or onion, I clove of garlic, crushed, and 1 teaspoon flour. Add the morilles and their juice. 2 to 3 tablespoons chicken gravy, if available, and ¼ cup tomato sauce (see April, 1952). Stir well and cook for 5 minutes longer. Correct the seasoning with salt and add a little freshly ground pepper and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter and pour over it the sauce and morilles. Serves 4.
Poulet Sauté Gloria Swanson
Prepare a 2 ½- to 3-pound chicken for sautéing. In a large frying pan spread 2 tablespoons butter and arrange the pieces of chicken skin side down on it. Cook over medium beat until the skin is golden brown. Turn the pieces and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Add 8 to 10 mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon chopped shallot or onion and 1 tablespoon flour and cook a few minutes longer. Add ¼ cup white wine, ½ cup cream, and a fagot made by tying together 3 sprigs of parsley, a bay leaf, salt, and a little thyne, and cook slowly, partly covered, for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done.
Discard the fagot. Stir into the sauce 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with ½ cup warm cream. Shake and move the pan. off the fire, so the sauce will not curdle. Arrange the chicken on a serving dish and pour the sauce over it. Garnish the platter with 4 tomatoes, cut in half, sautéed in a little butter, and sprinkled with parsley, and with small molds of rice pilaf topped with slices of truffle. Serves 4.
You will notice that all these dishes are moist, that the sauce is important and that it is served over the chicken; all this is typical of a French sautéed chicken. Those who prefer chicken otherwise should always roast or broil their birds. The sauce, however, is a real addition, giving character and flavor by combining shallots, wine, perhaps tomatoes in many recipes. The variations are endless, and chefs add new ones to their menus all the time, naming them for favorite guests or special events.
The late spring and summer is the time to sauté squab—or what the French call pigeonneaux —and also young guinea hens, called pintadeaux. They are the little birds that are so young they have not yet left the nest. In June pintadeaux are served with the cherries which ripen then. Squab and guinea hen arc tiny and very tender, and must be cooked very quickly. Allow one of the little birds for each serving.
Pigeonneaux or Pintadeaux Sautés (Sautéed Squab or Baby Guinea Hens)
Split and clean 4 squab and season them with salt. Melt enough butter in a frying pan to cover the bottom generously. Arrange the squab skin side down in the butter and sauté until they are golden brown. Turn the squab and cook the other side, partly covered, until done. Test by piercing the second joint with a fork, and if the juice which comes out is clear with no pink tinge, the birds are done. It should take 18 to 20 minutes. Arrange the birds on a serving dish and pour over them a little melted butter. To the juices in the pan add 1/3 cup stock or water and cook until the liquid is reduced to half, stirring in all the brown crustiness from the pan. Pour the pan gravy over the birds. Serves 4.
Pintadeaux aux Cerises(Baby Guinea Hens wish Cherries)
Pit 3 cups black cherries, reserving the pits. Put the cherries and the pits, tied in cheesecloth, in a saucepan with 2 ounces kirsch and ¼ cup water. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer gently for several minutes until the cherries are tender.
Clean and split 4 young guinea hens and season them with salt and pepper, In a large frying pan melt 3 tablespoons butter and arrange the birds skin side down on it. Cook until the skin is golden brown. Turn them and cook on the other side, partly covered, until done. Test by piercing the second joint with a fork, and if the juice is clear with no pink tinge, the birds are done. it should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Arrange the guinea hens on a serving dish. Discard the pits from the cherries and pour cherries and juice into a pan in which the birds were sautéed. Bring to a boil, stirring, and pour sauce and cherries over the birds. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons warm cognac and ignite. Serve flaming. Serves 4.
Young turkeys are sautéed like chicken. It takes 30 to 40 minutes or longer to cook them, depending upon their size. They are split before cooking and served with gravy made from the juice in the pan and usually with a puree made of corn or mushrooms or other vegetables. One popular way of preparing young turkeys at the old Ritz was to cut them into pieces after they had been sautéed, coal the spices of turkey with a vegetable purée and then with a light Mornay sauce, and brown the coating under the broiler.