A Lesson in Wine Reduction

Chicken Piccata in a Sauvignon Blanc Sauce

When it comes to cooking I'm sooooooo not the "details" person. That is, I rarely (if ever) measure, weigh & take note of the amounts of ingredients that goes into my dishes. In fact, whenever I scan through recipes my eyes drop past the list of food items and head straight to the instructions.

I'm more interested in techniques. Why? Because I believe once you have a technique down, the ingredients fall into place. You can create your own recipes and you won't freak out if your dish goes awry. You simply keep in mind the overall task at hand and adjust accordingly.

As a result it's pretty difficult for me to write a traditional recipe for everyone to follow and duplicate at home. One of these days I'll try to measure everything and/or take notes. But, today..... nah.

Let me tell you about one of my favorite techniques: meat in a wine reduction sauce. Its so easy to do yet it makes the most spectacular sauce. I've used this technique to make chicken marsala, steak in a merlot sauce, seafood pasta and several other dishes which I have yet to name.

Here are the steps I use for a typical sauteed dish with sauce:

STEP #1: Reduce the Wine

In a separate pot, I would boil an entire bottle of wine (marsala, merlot, sauvignon blanc, etc) and one can of broth (chicken, beef, vegetable, etc.) until there's about 1.5 to 2 cups left. In the case of the chicken piccata you see above, I used Sauvignon Blanc with chicken broth. I didn't have chicken stock that day, but that would have been better.

You can even get creative here. You can add another can of broth, use a stock, add a bouillon, etc. Be careful if you add an herb or spice, they'll probably just die and lose all flavor.

So, this step will take about 45 minutes to an hour. In fact, you can do it the day before and keep it in the fridge.

STEP #2: Sautee the Meat

In a separate pan, sautee your meat at medium-high and (if possible) slightly undercook it. Certain meats (shrimp, salmon, chicken, etc.) should finish cooking in the sauce later on. Beef however might get overcooked -- so watch out.

This step is important because of the little "bits" left behind on the frying pan. Essentially, that's caramelized meat down there and it'll bring your sauce to another level. When you've finished sauteeing, remove the meat and keep it warm in a plate covered with aluminum foil.

Step #3: Sautee the onions

A lot of dishes call for onions or shallots, so why not caramelize them? If you do, this is a great time to do it. So, in the pan where you sauteed your meat loosen up some of the bits with a splash of the wine reduction, not all of it. Then, sautee the onions for a few minutes until translucent.

Step #4: Make the sauce

This is where you can go wild. Usually this the step where I add all the ingredients. First the garlic then the remaining wine reduction. At this point, I bring it back to a roiling boil and then reduce the heat to low.

Filet Mignons in Merlot Suace

For the filet mignon dish above, this is the step where I added a little whipping cream, butter and a spoonful of flour to thicken the sauce. I then add the herbs and spices at the end to preserve their flavor. Finally, I dropped in some Italian seasoning, Italian parley, salt & pepper. How much of each? I have no idea. Be sure to taste as you go so you can make any adjustments if needed.

Also, its important to complete your sauce at this stage because when you add back the meat it'll be hard to stir around!

Step #5: Add back the meat

Again, if you're cooking a steak you might want to just pour the sauce over it later on so you don't overcook it. However, if you have seafood, pork or chicken, just add it back into the sauce and finish cooking it in there. Continue cooking at a low to medium heat until the meat is finished. Then serve!