Sautéed Zucchini
Onions, minced 2 oz
Butter 3 oz
Zucchini, fermier cut 1 ½ lb
Garlic, clove ½ clove
Salt 1 tsp
Black pepper, ground ¼ tsp
Basil, cut into long strips 1 tsp
1. Sauté onions in butter until translucent
2. Add zucchini and sauté until ¾ cooked
3. Add garlic, salt and pepper
4. Sauté until zucchini are completely done
Stir in basil and serve immediately
Yield: 6 portions
Sautéed Red and Yellow Peppers
Red bell peppers 3 peppers
Yellow bell peppers 3 peppers
Olive oil 1 ¼ oz
Salt 1 tsp
Black pepper, ground 1/8 tsp
1. Cut the peppers into desired shapes
2. Sauté in olive oil until cooked to desired tenderness
3. Season the peppers with salt and pepper, to taste
Yield: 6 portions
Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar snap peas, blanched 1 lb
Extra virgin olive oil 1 oz
Salt ½ tsp
Black pepper, ground ¼ tsp
1. Blanch peas in boiling salt water for 1 minute, drain and immediately shock with ice water
2. Sauté peas in olive oil until hot
3. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve immediately
Yield: 6 portions
Sautéing is a technique that cooks food quickly using a small amount of fat over relatively high heat. Because sautéing is a fast technique and does not have the ability to tenderize foods like some of the moist-heat methods, we have to choose foods to sauté that are naturally tender. The word sauté in French means “to jump,” and it refers to the way food moves as it sizzles and vibrates in a hot pan. In many restaurants, when you see menu items listed as seared, pan-seared, pan-charred, or pan-broiled, these dishes are in essence sautés. Those terms on a menu tend to indicate that even less oil is used than for a traditional sauté causing the food to develop an even more flavorful outer crust. It may also indicate that the food is cooked extremely rare.
Many people are under the impression that sautéing or searing food is designed to seal the juices of the food in but, in reality, the technique is designed to pull the juices out to the surface quickly and allow them to be cooked onto the surface of the food, forming a flavorful crust it allows the heat to penetrate the food more quickly. The juices that cook onto the pan form the dripping or fond, and fond forms the base for a sauce to be served with and enhance the finished item. The pan sauce serves three very distinct purposes:
- Captures the main food item's flavor that is lost during the cooking process
- Allows us to introduce additional flavors, such as fresh herbs to the dish
- Allows us to add moisture back to the food that was lost during the sautéing process
Preparing sauces from this cooking process is probably the greatest difference between the way a chef cooks and most people cook at home. The fact that the food sticks to the sauté pan is a source of aggravation for people and makes the clean-up more difficult. The chef however cleans the pan by deglazing and removing the cooked-on food and turning it into an awesome sauce that really makes the dish POP!
The foundation for flavor and texture for a pan sauce in sautéing may vary to suit the flavor of the sautéed item. Brown mother sauces, such as a demiglace or jus lié, veloutés, reduced stocks (thickened with a slurry if necessary), pureed vegetables (coulis), or tomato sauce may be used. There are a large number of aromatics available to add additional flavor to the sauce, such as shallots, garlic, peppercorns or spices. The same can be said for finishing ingredients, such as whole butter, heavy cream, crème fraîche, liaison, fresh herbs and compound butters.
Selection of Ingredients for a Sauté
Sautéing requires selecting naturally tender cuts typically from the rib or loin, as well as portions of the leg, for beef, veal, lamb, pork or large game animals. Poultry and game bird breasts are usually the best choice for sautéing and respond quite well to the technique. Fish must be firm or moderately textured to sauté and very delicate fish will not respond well to this method. Shellfish, in and out of the shell, are also successfully sautéed, although the flavor will be much better if the shell is left on and allowed to add its significant flavor to the dish.
Another big decision to make when sautéing is what fat to use during the process. Some fats are flavor neutral, such as vegetable and canola oil, and do not influence the flavor of the cooked food, while some add their own distinct flavor to the dish, such as olive oils and various nut oils. The other major concern is the smoke point of the oil and whether it will burn before getting the temperature up to the level necessary to cook the food correctly. The small amount of oil used during a sauté is designed to provide a moldable, moveable bottom to the pan that will transfer heat up from the pan to the food, allowing the food to cook completely and evenly.
Selection of Equipment for a Sauté
There are two types of sauté pans, a slope-sided pan with no lid and a straight-sided pan with a lid. Both sauté pans have short sides and are wider than they are tall to encourage rapid moisture evaporation. They should be made of a metal or metals that respond quickly to rapid heat changes. Plan to have tongs or spatulas available to turn foods and remove them from the pan, as well as holding pans to reserve foods while a sauce is prepared or finished. Also collect all appropriate service items (heated plates, garnishes and accompaniments).