Restaurant-Style Chicken Breast with Pan Sauce

Prep

10 min

Cook

15 min

Rest

10 min

Serves

2

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Neutral oil
• 1 shallot or a small piece of onion, finely chopped
• A splash of white vinegar
• Chicken stock, about a cup
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Fresh parsley, chopped
• Juice of half a lemon
• A knob of butter

Method

1. Dry the chicken

   Pat the breasts completely dry. Any water on the surface turns to steam in the pan, and steam is what makes chicken dry. You are trying to sauté it, not steam it.

2. Butterfly it

   A big breast will crisp up outside and stay raw in the middle. Lay it flat, hand firm on top, and cut it in half through the thickness so you have two even pieces.

3. Salt and pepper only

   Season from high up so it spreads evenly. No other seasoning yet, it will burn in the pan. The flavor comes at the end. After a minute the salt pulls liquid to the surface; pat it dry again, and sanitize the board, the knife and your hands.

4. Get a stainless pan hot

   Use stainless steel, not nonstick, over medium-high heat. Flick in a drop of water: when it skates around like mercury, the pan is ready. Add neutral oil.

5. Lay it in, away from you

   Dab the chicken dry one more time, then lay it in the pan away from your body. The cold meat drops the pan temperature and the sizzle softens, so kick the heat up for a moment, then bring it back down. Work the heat like a gas pedal. Too high and it sticks; too low and there is no sizzle.

6. Cook to 150, not 165

   Let it caramelize without moving it. Pull the chicken when the inside reads 150 to 152 degrees. It keeps cooking as it rests, and if you take it to 165 in the pan it will be dry by the time it is plated.

7. Rest it 10 minutes

   Move it to a plate and leave it alone for a full 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

8. Build the pan sauce

   Pick out any black bits, but do not wash the pan; the browned bits are the flavor. Low heat, a little more oil, the shallot until it takes a little color. A splash of white vinegar, then the chicken stock, and turn the heat up. Salt and pepper. Add the garlic now, not earlier, so it does not brown.

9. Finish and plate

   Parsley, then the lemon juice last for brightness, then the butter. Slice the chicken on an angle. Put the sauce on the plate under the chicken, not over it, so the crust you built stays crisp.

Notes from Mike

The end piece is always going to be dry. At the shop we often do not even serve it. That one is for the cook.