I was born to sauté...
I remember thinking this and smiling when I finally made my way up in the kitchen brigade to the Saucier spot.
I loved the pulse of the kitchen, working the saute station with a dozen sauté pans on the flat top, delicious stocks and mother sauces held hot in the steam table and carefully prepared mise en place so I could make delicious meals for the customers... one order or two at the time. Everything was cooked with love and respect.
Chicken Sauté for beginners
The Culinary Institute of America is arguably the finest culinary school in the world! Students spend 6 weeks learning and practicing basic culinary fundamentals in Skills I and II-one of my favorite classes to teach.
I'm a big fan of proper technique. One of my mentors, CMC Tom Peer used to say, "Practice doesn't make Perfect... Perfect Practice makes Perfect". I truly believe this.
Sauté is a dry heat method of cooking-it's important to choose tender cuts of protein such as chicken breast, pork cutlets, scallops etc... sauté translates to 'jump in the pan'. When we sauté, we cook something quickly in a very hot pan. It's important to develop caramelization (light or dark depending on the recipe) and prepare a delicious sauce in the same pan you cooked the protein in.
Sometimes the sauce compliments the protein such as chicken with a cream sauce and sometimes the sauce counters the protein such as a spicy mustard sauce with pork.
Basis Chicken Sauté
Prep Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Yield: 2 portions
Ingredients
2 ea Chicken Breast, (skin removed) cut into two even pieces
tt Salt and Black pepper
4 Tbsp AP Flour
3 Tbsp Olive Oil or Clarified Butter
2 Tbsp White Wine, dry, optional
6 Tbsp Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp Shallots, minced
6 oz Heavy Cream
4 Tbsp Fresh Herbs, minced (tarragon, Italian parsley, chives)
How to Sauté Chicken
Step 1
Set up an area to season the chicken, in this photo I'm using a chicken breast I've cut into two similar sized pieces. I lightly pound the chicken with a mallet to flatten the chicken breast for even cooking. (trying to have the protein the same thickness)
I would work the same way with a whole chicken breast or boneless chicken thighs. I would use the same method if I left the skin on the chicken.
Season the chicken (I prefer to simply use kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper), and dust with AP Flour. Pat the chicken so the flour sticks to the flesh.
Step 2
Add oil to a warm, sauté pan. It's important to use a pan which is the correct size for the amount of chicken being sautéed. If the pan is too small, the chicken won't get a nice, golden brown sear and moisture will purge out of the chicken, basically boiling in chicken 'purge'... liquid can only get to a boil but we want to sauté in oil that is approximately 400° F.
Also, if the pan is too large, the areas with no chicken cooking will burn!
Carefully place the seasoned, floured chicken breast into the hot oil and let the chicken brown for 2-3 minutes. You should hear a sizzle when placing the chicken into the hot oil. I like to gently 'jiggle' the pan so the chicken doesn't stick and browns evenly. Try not to peek... let the chicken brown. When you see browning on the sides, carefully invert the chicken with tongs, be careful not to splatter the hot oil.
When the chicken is golden brown on both sides, place the chicken onto a sizzle plate to rest.
Step 3
Add minced shallots into the fond (the nice brown bits of chicken and flour in the oil) and sweat for one minute; add white wine and reduce until 'sec'-almost dry so the sauce has a mild wine flavor but not overpowering.
Add chicken stock and reduce to 'sec' (about 3 minutes), then add the cream and simmer for 2 minutes.
Add the herbs, place the chicken (and juices in the sizzle plate from the resting chicken) into the sauce and bathe the chicken with the sauce,
serve
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Years ago, while working as a chef in a busy continental restaurant, we featured grilled, fresh swordfish on the menu—finished with a generous spoonful of herbed compound butter and capers. It was popular and delicious. One afternoon, a seafood purveyor stopped by with a sample of frozen swordfish steaks, fully thawed and ready for evaluation. Curious, we grilled it side by side with the “fresh” swordfish we had been serving—fish we believed to be of high quality. The result was surprising. The frozen swordfish was superior—firmer, cleaner in flavor, and more consistent in texture. In contrast, our “fresh” fish, likely several days out of the water, lacked the same integrity. It was a defining moment and an important reminder: in many cases, properly handled and quickly frozen seafood can offer better quality than fish labeled as fresh. For chefs, understanding sourcing and handling is just as critical as technique—especially with a product as prized as swordfish.
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From Talk to Action: A Chef’s Challenge for School Lunches
The legendary New York-style cheesecake was famously popularized by Lindy’s Restaurant , an iconic Theater District deli opened in 1921 by German-immigrant Leo "Lindy" Lindemann and his wife Clara . A NY-style cheesecake has a dense but velvety cream cheese base, citrus zest, and a distinct cookie-dough pastry crus t. For years, I took the bus into NYC to work in amazing restaurant kitchens. On one bus ride I met and became friends with a manager at the legendary Lindy’s Restaurant. One day, he did the ultimate honor: he shared the closely guarded, original cheesecake recipe with me. This new recipe is directly inspired by that legendary Lindy’s classic, capturing its iconic velvety richness and signature flavor profile, but re-engineered for a modern, protein-packed lifestyle. Why This Recipe Delivers High-protein swap : Cottage cheese provides a clean, protein-packed base that replaces heavy fats without sacrificing richness. Silky texture : Blending the batter thoroughly ensures a velvety smooth consistency that rivals any NY-style cake. Savory-approved : Simple, foolproof assembly that requires no pastry-chef precision to get a perfect bake every time.
One of the great pleasures of my career is spending time each year working as a Culinary Educator aboard a cruise ship alongside my wife. She teaches baking & pastry while I focus on savory cooking and culinary techniques. Our travels take us to fascinating ports around the world, providing opportunities to explore local markets and study regional cuisines. I have a particular affection for the Mediterranean and always make it a point to seek out local variations of pesto, one of the world's great culinary treasures. One evening aboard ship, the pasta station served rigatoni with a choice of pesto, marinara, or Alfredo sauce. The cook prepared each order by reheating the pasta in hot water and then finishing it briefly in a sauté pan with the selected sauce. I watched in disbelief as he prepared to heat the pesto exactly the same way. "Horror!" flashed through my mind. Pesto is not a cooked sauce. Heating it aggressively dulls the fresh basil aroma, darkens its vibrant color, and diminishes the delicate flavors of basil, garlic, pine nuts, and extra virgin olive oil that make pesto so special. I may have startled the cook when I quickly called out, "Please don't cook my pesto!" Instead, I asked him to simply toss the hot rigatoni with the pesto off the heat, allowing the warmth of the pasta to gently release the fragrance and flavor of the basil. The result was exactly as pesto was intended to be enjoyed—fresh, vibrant, aromatic, and unmistakably Mediterranean.
As chefs, we spend years mastering sauté work. I remember my early days working the sauté station for lunch in a French restaurant in NYC. We served over one hundred guests in an hour-and the food was excellent — a dozen hot pans on the flat top, stocks simmering, mise en place of freshly chopped herbs, minced shallots, butter for mounting into sauces à la minute. There is rhythm to good sauté cooking. You learn quickly that great sauté work is not about rushing — it is about organization and control .