Pan Seared Chicken Breast with Brandy Pan Sauce

This pan seared chicken breast is moist with crispy skin, and the Brandy pan sauce transforms it into a more sophisticated dish. You get a feeling of being in a 5-star restaurant, without leaving the comfort of your own home. This is the perfect main dish to make if you’re trying to impress someone.

Pan Seared Chicken Breast with Brandy Pan Sauce Video Tutorial:

Here’s What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe:

• 2 boneless, skin on chicken breasts (8 ounces each)
• kosher salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed

Let’s Make Pan Seared Chicken Breast with Brandy Pan Sauce

Pan Seared Chicken Breast

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel and season with slat and pepper, generously.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high with the neutral oil until the oil is shimmering. Add in the chicken breast, skin side down. Let the chickens see her until the skin becomes brown and crispy. They should take about 6 to 7 minutes.
4. Move both breasts towards the top of the skillet, still skin side down, and add butter, rosemary, thyme, and garlic cloves. Once the butter is melted, tilt the bottom of the pan towards you, and with the large spoon begin to baste the chicken with the butter and herbs. Do this until the chicken begins to cook and become opaque, about five minutes.
5. Flip the chicken and let it sit in the pan for about 10 seconds, then transferred to a sheet pan with a wire rack. Pour the butter and herbs over the chicken, but do not scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Finish cooking the chicken breasts in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the temperature reaches 160°F. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving so the juices are evenly distributed and the internal temp can rise to 165°F.

Brandy Pan Sauce

1. Place the pan used to serve chicken over medium heat. There should be a little bit of oil reserves in the pan along with the fond parentheses brown bits parentheses from searing the chicken. Pour minced shallots into the pan and sauté, seasoning with a pinch of salt, until translucent. 
2. Lower the flame and remove the pan from the heat. Pour in Brandy and raise the flame, then tilt pan carefully or use a match or torch to flambé. The alcohol will catch on fire and cook off. Let the flames die down on their own and reduce the Brandy to all sick, or until the pan is almost dry.
3. Pour in the chicken stock and reduce 3/4ths of the way, until the sauce thickens. Remove the pan from the heat, and begin to vigorously whisk in cold cubes of butter, a few cubes at a time. The butter should emulsify (not melt) into the liquid, which will thicken the sauce. Taste and season with kosher salt as needed. Enjoy!

Sourcing Boneless Skin-On Chicken Breast

My favorite way to get the exact pieces of chicken I want is to break down a whole chicken myself. I like to use the chickens labeled “young chicken” because they’re not oversized like “oven stuffers”. If you find bone-in skin-on chicken breast, that will work too! Just cut the breast plate (bones) off and remove the tenderloin.

Perfecting a Pan Sauce

Making a pan sauce is not easy, but there are a couple of fool proof tips that will help you succeed:

• Use the fond (leftover brown bits) from searing your protein and your flavor base
• Cook off your alcohol until it of au sec, which mean until the pan is almost dry
• Reduce your stock enough so that your sauce won’t be a runny consistency at the end
• When incorporating the butter, you don’t want it to melt because that will cause the sauce to break. Emulsification is the goal here! Make sure to add butter to the pan once it is no longer on the heat and shake the pan while constantly whisking to make the emulsification process successful.
• If your sauce breaks, don’t fret! Just add a splash of water, place it on a gentle simmer and whisk vigorously until it comes back to life.

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