The term “pan sauce” is misleading. While it is true that the sauce is assembled in the pan used to prepare an item, the sauce also consists of products that have already been prepared. Stock or Sous Jus is a necessity. Wine provides flavor, and even color, but not volume. A small amount of butter is added at the end to emulsify.
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, 2 oz/60 ml. Onion, 2 oz/60 g. Celery, 2 oz/60 g.. Carrot, 2 oz/60 g. Tomatoes, 1 each, cut into quarters. White wine, 1 cup. Flour, 2 Tablespoons. Water, 5 cups/1.2L.
Equipment requirements:
Food processor. Paper towels. Kitchen towel. Chamber or channel vacuum machine. Large skillet, 12″/30cm. Flat spatula or wooden spoon. Kitchen strainer.
Chop the vegetables fine in a food processor. Submerge in warm water. Why? Simple sugars will scorch in the pan before the complex carbohydrates have a chance to caramelize. This step removes most of the simple sugars.Drain well. Lay a fabric towel on a flat surface and line it with a paper towel.Stage the drained vegetables onto the paper towel. The paper towel prevents the vegetables from sticking to the fabric towel.Fold the package up like an envelope.Vacuum and allow 15 minutes to remove excess water.Heat pan to 250 F/121 C. This pan was used to brown the Chicken al Mattone. Add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.Add the chopped, drained and vacuumed vegetables. Increase heat to high.Brown well.Add the tomatoes.Use a weight to encourage the rendering of the tomato.Not black, but very very brown.Add 1 cup white wine.Reduce until the hissing stops.You should see and hear the fat sizzling.Sprinkle with 2 scant tablespoons of flour.Stir until the flour disappears. Do not attempt to make roux–there is still too much water and you will end up with a gummy mess. Once the flour has been moistened…Add half of the water and stir.The sauce will tighten immediately.Add the rest of the water and return to boil. Reduce to a simmer. As the stock simmers, its color will darken.Reduce by at least half and strain. Check seasoning–it should need a bit of salt.
Chain Restaurants first, then Culinary School, then, French/Swiss/German, Italian, Seafood (lots of those), Steakhouses, Private Clubs, Nouvelle Cuisine, then, Lake Tahoe Hotels, Reno Hotels, Laughlin Hotels, and Vegas Hotels (Caesars, most notably), then, back to the Bay Area and another free standing Steak House. Then, 2008 happened.
