Hello my Foodie Friends!
Both my wife and I grew up in Italian homes where the house always smelled delicious especially when mom was making a sauce and meatballs. Ahhh, I can still smell and taste the wonder of their sauces and the incredible meatballs. I can also remember helping my grandmother carry her large sauté pan that she would later fill with meatballs. Of course, I would do anything to sneak one of these meatballs once they were done!
The sauté pan is among the most used pans in the kitchen.These wide, flat-bottomed pans have high L-shaped sides and are ideal for deep or shallow frying such as fried chicken, braising, sautéing meatballs or making Mexican rice. It is the perfect pot for one pot meals.
Sautéing is a form of dry cook heating that uses a very hot pan and a small amount of fat to cook the food very quickly. Like other dry-heat cooking methods, sautéing browns the food’s surface as it cooks and develops complex flavors and aromas. Sautéing Requires a Very Hot Pan. When sautéing, it’s important to heat the pan for a minute, then add a small amount of fat and let the fat get hot as well, before adding the food to the pan. This hot fat helps to brown the surface of the food. Another key is to avoid overloading or overcrowding the pan. Don’t Overcrowd the Pan. In order to achieve the desired browning of the food, the pan must stay hot throughout the cooking process. Too much food in the pan dissipates the heat, causing the food to steam or boil rather than sauté. Keep the Food Moving. There’s another element to sautéing — the toss. The word sauté actually means “jump” in French. Tossing or flipping the food in the pan ensures that it cooks evenly, but it also helps keep the pan hot (culinaryarts.about.com). Sauté pan options include; cast iron, enamel cast iron, and layer bonded Stainless Steel cookware. One of our favorites is the All Clad Tri Ply Sauté pan with lid.
The All Clad Tri Ply Sauté pan with lid is a natural choice for making convenient one-pot meals; this versatile piece from All-Clad’s original three-layer bonded Stainless Steel cookware line combines the attributes of a sauté pan and a saucier. A new capacity engraving on the base makes for quick identification, and an improved ergonomic handle ensures comfort. Tri-ply construction sandwiches a heat-responsive aluminum core between an easy-care stainless-steel interior and exterior. The bonded-metal construction ensures fast, even heating. All-Clad pans include a stainless-steel cooking surface with starburst finish provides superior stick resistance and won’t react with foods. These are an all-in-one pan that combines a wide base for searing and sautéing ingredients over high heat and sloped rounded sides to contain liquids and facilitate stirring when you’re simmering stews, whisking sauces or browning meats. The lid locks in moisture and heat after browning to finish cooking ingredients, either on the stovetop or in the oven, ideal for preparing one-pan meals. All-Clad pans are ideal for use on any cook top, including induction.
Having the right pan for cooking is important – especially when you do not want your “meatballs to get lost”. Stop into Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store to get those cool tools to help with making meatballs and other culinary delights. Remember my Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”
Take Care,
John & Paula
