Not saucy enough
Maybe you thought I was talking about myself when you saw that subject line. No, I’m talking about my chicken saltimbocca.
I made the dish for the first time last night using an assortment of recipes that I cobbled together to suit what I had in my refrigerator and was willing to buy. I started with three large chicken breasts, which I cut in half and pounded out to get six small cutlets. I floured and sauteed each of those cutlets, then made little “sandwiches” out of them with prosciutto and mozzerella cheese in between. If you’re following me, you know that I ended up with three servings.
I followed the sauce recipe straight from Cooks.com, however, and was told it would make six servings. So why did I not end up with enough sauce for my three servings even though I fudged it and tried to double it as soon as I realized the output would be scrawny? This isn’t the first time it’s happened to me, and it leads me to believe that either Howard and I are complete sauce hogs or lots of recipes don’t turn out enough sauce for the average diner.
One other factor: Sauce cooks down and thickens, so I suppose the longer you let it cook and the more it thickens, the less you may end up with in the end. I had already sauteed the garlic and shallots and mushrooms, then added chicken broth and white wine and boiled that down, then added some flour and sherry before I looked at the pan and said, “This isn’t going to be enough.” Fortunately, adding more broth, wine and seasonings and cooking down from there still resulted in a very savory and delicious sauce.
Has this ever happened to you? Next time I will know to double the recipe, but it sure would be nice to eyeball a recipe and have an idea about how much sauce it will really make.
If you have any ideas, let me know. If you still want to talk about Ukrop’s, that post is right below this one. Comment away!
December 8, 2008 - 1:41 PM
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The only saltimbocca I’ve had is at Mamma Maria’s (highly recommended). The main sauce is just a basic marsala sauce, right? I seem to recall that MM’s version had a little bit of a different sauce on the chicken, but I could be mistaken.
I am a “sauce hog” also because I love to have lots of sauce that can also go on my rice, vegetables, or noodles to bring the meal together. I almost always have to double what the recipe says for a sauce. You’re not alone!
It really is close to a Marsala wine sauce, Mark. Some of the recipes I saw actually called for Marsala wine. I had dry white wine and cooking sherry and chicken broth around, so I went with that recipe. It also called for a little cream with the sherry to finish it off at the end, and I had some fat free Half & Half. I know some will balk at the “fat free,” but I find it really thickens and creams up a dish without the fat or a strange flavor. I’ll share the recipe tomorrow.
Michelle, one of the main reasons I was disappointed by the quantity is because I had made some angel hair pasta, too. I hoped to have saucy noodles on the side
I always make extra sauce. After all, my hubby’s very saucy. lol.
Seriously, once I make something, I’ve learned the recipe and will begin eyeballing everything the next time I make it, (unless I’m baking). When saucing it up, I will embellish quite a bit. This is my rule with cheese and butter too. Paula Dean has taught me well.
Oh, and I meant to say, angel hair pasta would’ve been my ideal choice with this dish too. Risotto might be a nice second choice (just time consuming).
Lindsey, I am sorry but I must correct ya’ll on Saltimbocca. First, I have Chicken Saltimbocca currently on my menu. I have updated the recipe slightly as follows. I am cooking a skin-on chicken breast under a brick(that is a whole other recipe I will teach you sometime), that I have tucked a fresh sage leaf under the skin. Once chicken breast is done, I set aside and keep warm. Next, degrease the pan, leaving a little fat in the pan. Add pureed fresh garlic to the pan. Saute for a second or two, then add some proscuitto that you have sliced thin and then julienned into strips. Add a little diced tomato and then some white wine. Let everything cook for twenty seconds, then add some whole unsalted butter. Allow sauce to emulsify. Pour sauce onto dinner plates, place chicken breast on top ( to keep skin crispy) and enjoy.
Literally translated, this Italian term means “jump mouth”. It refers to a Roman specialty made of finely sliced veal sprinkled with sage and topped with a thin slice of proscuitto. It’s sauteed in butter, then braised in white wine. Sometimes the meat layers are rolled and secured with picks before being cooked.
I am not trying to be a smarty, just want to lead ya’ll down the correct path. I admit that I can be a sauce hawg sometimes, but as a chef I try to keep things balanced.
I love the fat free half and half, I use it all the time. Looking forward to your recipe. I bought a bottle of Marsala wine to make chicken or veal marsala and never have used it yet. I am a sauce hog too.
I usually double sauce recipes, too. You can usually keep extra in the fridge or freezer and use it later, but running out in the middle of a recipe is no good.
Hey Chef Mark, thanks for weighing in! So are you saying we are incorrect to say it is close to a Marsala wine sauce? If so, I guess some of the online recipes I saw are incorrect. Doesn’t surprise me, really. I just used white wine in mine. Never thought about Chicken Saltimbocca having tomatoes in it, though.
Totally unrelated but just got to pass this idea for holiday leftovers along. A friend offered me some of his lunch that his wife had made from Turkey day leftovers. She had cut up turkey to small dime size bits and mixed it with stuffing. She then took some precooked pasta shells …similar to the sea shell pasta but like 3-4″ in length. She stuffed the pasta with the stuffing mixture and then poured a creamy gravy over top of everything. It was sooo good and warmed you up over the cold weekend!!
Hey Lindsey, there are a lot of recipes out there on the internet that sometimes misleads people. The tomato in the chicken saltimbocca is my little twist as well as not wrapping the chicken in proscuitto but rather making it part of the sauce.
Pan drippings, white wine, garlic and/or shallots and some butter are all you need to make a delicious pan sauce. One other thing I wanted to mention is that unfortunately, you can reduce half and half all you want but it will never thicken up as a sauce unless you help it with a little starch, such as flour roux or cornstarch slurry.
As always, it is such a pleasure to read this blog. Sorry I don’t respond more, but I get caught up in my work. Keep talking about food!!!