Dondero: For inexpensive elegance, sauté chicken

Sauté! The very word screams haute cuisine.

But the term is more earthy and colorful than might be suspected - even excluding its vulgar usage.

"Sauter" in French means to jump, as a frog or rabbit does. "Faire sauter" (to make [something] jump) is culinary French for frying quickly in oil or butter so that meat or vegetable pieces jump about. "Sauté," the past participle of sauter, is what trickled down into English.

Chicken breast sautés well. And boneless, skinless chicken breast is often buy-one-get-one-free at the supermarket. That means pick up two, freeze one for future use and sauté something elegant with the other.

In recent years, chicken is sometimes injected with "up to 15 percent natural broth." The heart-warming, stated purpose is to assure juiciness and tenderness in the meat. Actually, it's a way of selling water for the price of chicken. I look for chicken unenhanced by injected broth.

Here's a simple French method for sautéing chicken with mushrooms and cream that is as elegantly tasty as it is easy. Actually, it's similar to the way several veal dishes are prepared in Italy and Switzerland and "beef Stroganoff" is cooked in Russia.

For my version, thin strips of chicken are briefly marinated, then quickly fried with mushrooms and finished with cream.

The recipe serves six with buttered noodles, steamed potatoes or toast points. For an elegant luncheon, the chicken can be spooned into baked puff pastry nests or crépes.

A chilled, flavorful dry or nearly dry white wine, such as an oak-barreled Chardonnay or a Riesling, would go well with this.

Sauteed Chicken

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 tablespoons brandy or white wine

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 3/8 teaspoons salt, divided

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh oregano, or a large pinch dry, crumbled between the fingers

1/2 pound mushrooms

1 medium shallot or 1 very small onion

1 medium-sized clove garlic

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

2 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons sour cream or heavy cream

Minced parsley for garnish

Trim fat or tough parts from chicken. Slice meat crosswise into strips 1/4-inch thick. Cut strips in half if more than 2 inches long. Mix with brandy or wine, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of salt, the spices and herb. Marinate at least 10 minutes.

Rinse mushrooms. Trim off bottom 1/8 inch of stems. Slice mushrooms 1/4-inch thick. Finely mince shallot, or onion, and garlic.

Ten minutes before serving, heat a large nonstick frying pan to medium high. Add 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter, shallot or onion, and garlic. Stir and fry until shallot is translucent but not browned (30 to 60 seconds). Add marinated chicken. Stir and fry just until uncooked color is gone (2 to 3 minutes). Remove chicken to a bowl, keeping juices in pan.

Add another tablespoon each of oil and butter to pan. Add mushrooms plus 3/8 teaspoon of salt. Quickly stir and fry mushrooms, sprinkling with a little water, if necessary, to keep them from sticking to pan. As soon as mushrooms darken and start to look cooked (1 to 2 minutes), return prefried chicken to pan. Heat, stirring, until juices bubble. Stir in sour cream or cream. Bring mixture just back to a bubble. Remove from heat. Taste sauce, and add a little salt, if necessary.

Serve with toast points, buttered noodles or buttered steamed potatoes, or in puff pastry shells or cr pes. Dust with minced parsley.

• Tim Dondero is an international medical researcher as well as cooking teacher, chef and caterer. Contact him at timdondero@ gmail.com or visit his blog, t-jintan.blogspot.com.

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