Chicken with Herbes de Provence Pan Sauce

September 18, 2021 7:57 pm

Seared chicken locked in with its juicy flavors left behind some browned bits in a pan, just asking to be made into a pan sauce, and that’s exactly what I did! There are many chicken dishes out there that tell you to make a pan sauce out of it, but this one I felt was a tad bit different. I added some shallots and caramelized them. I’ve had a very heavy obsession with caramelizing onions lately that I decided to try it with shallots. I don’t know where my caramelized obsession came from, but I choose not to question it. I also added some herbes de Provence.

After searing the chicken breast, I then added some butter to pick up the browned bits leftover from the chicken. After allowing the butter to melt and scraped up the bits, shallots were added to the pan to take over as the vessel for the browned bits. Even if you want to make a pan sauce without caramelizing the shallots, you can always dice them instead of slicing, sauté for 2 minutes then add the liquids. After caramelization, I added some minced garlic for a minute, then chicken broth for extra flavor, whisked in some flour to make it thicker, along with some heavy cream to give it a lighter color and fuller texture. Of course, with the seasoning of herbes de Provence flavoring up the gravy to give it a floral hint. I paired this with some jasmine rice boiled in beef broth.

The top reasons you should NEVER ditch the bits!

That’s extra flavor you’re throwing away! As my idol, Anne Burrell, says “Brown food tastes good!”. These browned bits are tiny little packages of flavor. You can make use of them by deglazing a pan with a liquid, or use some veggies to pick them up. As you heat the liquid, you can begin scraping up the bits. The liquid will begin to develop flavor from the pan juices and the food bits. It’s always a good idea to chop some veggies to pick up those bits. Whether it’s just shallots or garlic, peppers, or spinach, any veggie works!
From glazes to gravies, you can make a flavor enhancing sauce out of it! Sear some pork, then add some sliced pears and deglaze with white wine and add some preserves, such as apricot, to create a glaze. Sear some steak, but while searing, add some butter and aromatics then spoon it over the steak to get the bits up and back onto the steak. Or, you can sear the steak, set it aside and deglaze the pan with some balsamic vinegar or red wine to create a reduction. Same concept with chicken! Fish isn’t really ideal for this.
Food for thought: Fond or Burnt? First off, let me explain what fond is. Fond, in the culinary arts, is the brown particles found at the bottom of pans after browning meat or vegetables. One of the most important things to remember about good fond is that it should be brown, not black. A nice brown color is a sign of a good roasted flavor. However, if the particles in your pan are black, they’re probably burnt. If that’s the case, you can deglaze the pan to make it easier to clean but you won’t want to use the black bits for anything unless you enjoy the taste of burnt food. If you like the taste of burnt food, you may need to get some help.

Want the recipe? Click print below! Let me know how it came out for you by tagging me on Instagram (@missravenskitchen) and using #missravenskitchen! Let me know if I need to tweak anything.

Chicken with Herbes de Provence Pan Sauce

Yield

4

Author

Dani Marcus

Prep time

5 Min

Cook time

40 Min

Total time

45 Min

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