How to Keep my Sauce from Separating?

by Ryan
(Germany)

Hey Chef Todd,
I recently stumbled across your "Chef Mohr's South of France Chicken" video which inspired last nights dinner. In the video you sauteed a chicken breast, deglazed with white wine and added goat cheese to make a sauce.

So I thought I'd try that concept with a different type of cheese. My problem was that when I added the cheese to the wine, the two didn't mix together. I had pieces of cheese floating around the wine. The same problem occurred when I tried adding some mustard to the wine which made my situation even worse!

What I ended up doing was dropping the temperature of the mixture below 165 degrees, added and egg yoke and saved the day. Thank you emulsification!


Chef Todd Says:
In the basic saute procedure, the first deglazing liquid must be reduced until it is almost dry. You found out what happens when a lot of acid hits cheese. In French culinary, this is called "au sec", or "at dry".

Wine or acidic product is used to drop the temperature of the pan and release the pan fond. You can then add chicken broth or other flavorful liquid as a base for your sauce. Wine should never be used as a base for a sauce, it's too acidic.

But, you did save the day with an egg yolk liason, and brought the sauce back together.

Review the "Saute Like a Pro" page on our website. You can find it under "Cooking Methods" tab, then click the "saute" link.

Chef Todd.