The delicious beauty of chicken is that it pairs so easily
with a myriad of flavors and can be prepared in so many different ways. On its own, however, it can be a bit boring
and drab. Yet you can easily spice up
your chicken with simple sauces that rejuvenate it from the mundane to the
fabulous. The following easy-to-prepare
sauces will pep up your chicken for meals that are perfect to serve any night
or even when entertaining company.
Adorée This Veloute Sauce
Veloute sauce is an easy sauce inspired by France. It is so easy and requires the humblest of
ingredients: flour, butter, and chicken broth.
While two cups of chicken broth are brought to a boil in one pan, take
another and melt two tablespoons of butter.
Add three tablespoons of flour and whisk into a roux—this should take no
more than thirty seconds. Remove from
heat. Add the hot broth and stir. It’s ready to transform your chicken into a
savory French meal.
Chicken with Italian Red Sauce
A can of inexpensive diced tomatoes and a can of stewed
tomatoes and you are halfway to making a great Italian chicken dish. In a large pan, sauté some garlic and onion
in about two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. You can also add fresh mushrooms or green
peppers if you like. Add your cans of
tomatoes along with their juice and simmer.
While simmering, add spices to taste like oregano, basil, or simply some
Italian seasoning. You can vary the
recipe by adding black olives or other tasty ingredients. Then add your chicken—boneless breasts or
bone-in pieces are fine in either case; though boneless cook up much more
quickly. Serve with pasta or crusty
garlic bread.
Sweet (Seconds Please) Garlic Sauce
So delicious, this sauce is perfectly easy for any night of
the week. In a sauté pan, heat two
tablespoons of olive oil and add four cloves of minced garlic. Turn off the heat and add four tablespoons of
brown sugar. Season four chicken breasts
to taste and coat with the mixture before baking in a 450-degree oven for about
twenty-five minutes uncovered.
White Wine-Dijon-Sage Sauce
This lovely sauce will transform any boneless chicken breast
into an elegant entre. If you have four
breasts, cut them in half and dredge through flour to coat each. Heat two tablespoons of butter and about a ¼
cup of olive oil in a large skillet.
When the pan is hot enough, add the chicken pieces and cook
through. Then remove the chicken to
prepare the sauce. Add two tablespoons
of flour and stir into a roux. Add one
cup of chicken broth (stock is richer so feel free to upgrade), a half
tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a cup and a half of white wine (try Chardonnay),
and some fresh sage to taste. As soon as
the sauce is heated through and thickens, spoon it atop the chicken and
serve.
Spicy Orange
This sauce will zip up any boring chicken dish and is simple
to prepare. In a saucepan, add one cup
of chicken broth, 1/3 teaspoon of ground ginger (or a little goes a long way),
three tablespoons of orange marmalade, two tablespoons of soy sauce, two
teaspoons of lemon juice. Stir the
mixture until it thickens and is completely heated through and serve over
chicken.
You’ll love these sauces for their great taste but will love
them just as much for their convenience.
So adaptable, you can even add other ingredients to make them your own
signature sauces!
Peter Richardson enjoys cooking and finding new recipes that
his family of 4 will enjoy. He shares his cooking ideas with like-minded people
by blogging. See here for chicken breast recipes.
The white wine dijon sage sauce sounds soooo mouth watering. :P
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