What the cluck?

Why, oh, why does it have to be chicken chasseur? 

Well, because that's what Mr. Grausman feels is a good "showcase" recipe. It incorporates several essential techniques, plus a bit of garnish work. It uses a straight forward, yet complex in taste, sauce. And plating it requires finesse.  Further, it's not a difficult recipe to memorize (and it's one you can build on, btw).

The tips below will help, even if you just scan 'em. Here we go (patience, it's not brief):

First, make sure the breast is about the right size for a serving (@ four to six ounces). Too big? Use your knife.

Put your chicken in the pan skin-side down. If the pan's not hot enough, or the chicken is damp (meat side down is damp), the chicken's gonna stick to the pan and muck up your plating.*

Press on the thickest part of the breast to test done-ness: it should be firm with a slight bounce back. (TIP: Use a thermometer! (YES: they're allowed.))

Overcooking makes the meat dry (ack!) and undercooked? Ha. The judges won't eat it (too bad for you).

An over-thick sauce will be gummy. If it's beginning to jell, thin it out with a bit of stock.

Your homemade stock and glace are critical to your final, so take time with them at school or home. Stock should be perfectly clear - and very chicken-y. To add a bit of sweetness - more onion, please.

Be careful not to burn the glace, since even a little burned bit will make the whole thing bitter as it stands.  Fix that with a little butter fast (ask Nicole or Luke or Jill!)

Sauce too thin now? Add a little butter - but carefully. And if you let it go to a boil after that butter's in there, the sauce will break and separate. Ick.

Oh, yeah - judges can get picky about that sauce. So make sure it's well-balanced, with rich, complex flavors. Your stock and glace will make it rich, the mushrooms give depth and a little earthiness. The tomatoes whisper bright notes, the tarragon is a bite of anise. Butter makes it creamier and soft, and the parsley adds an herbal zing.

All those flavors - and the judges want to see what's contributing. So don't cook it into mushy oblivion, and don't mince the tarragon and parsley until they're invisible dust in a richly-colored sauce.

Make sure your potatoes are well-seasoned - so get some salt into your cooking water. Throw in a couple of similarly-sized spuds to test for doneness as you're cooking - ad let 'em get a little color from the saute pan (they're not in the oven long enough to brown up).

When you're plating the chicken, remember that thin slices will cool before the judges can taste how delicious your dish is.

Make sure you have enough sauce to put both under and over the chicken. And do it nicely.

Remember: garnishes are to be eaten. So in this case, make sure your delicately minced or chiffonade-ed tarragon and/or parsley are sitting on the chicken and/or sauce and not strewn across the plate.


* Why does meat stick to a hot pan? A small amount of oil added to a very hot pan almost instantly becomes very hot oil. The oil quickly sears the outside of the food and causes water to be released from the food. This layer of water vapor ("steam") lifts the food atop the oil film and keeps it from touching the hot pan surface. If the oil is not hot enough, the steam effect will not occur and the food will fuse to the (too) cool pan surface. Source: Ask a Scientist.

Coming next: 

                Crepes. Presentation. How to interview. Who's judging this year?