Make an ordinary meal extraordinary in 10 minutes

I've been sautéing chicken breasts and thighs and lean beef and pork in my well-seasoned iron skillet for years. A well-seasoned iron skillet has similar properties to a nonstick skillet, searing and browning meat beautifully.

Searing does not seal in the juices. At one time folks believed that cooking the surface of meat, poultry or fish quickly over high heat sealed in the juices, but later testing proved that searing only browns meat's surface.

Searing remains an important, flavor-creating cooking method. Let's look at the science behind it. The browning you see occurs when meat sears its protein (amino acid) reducing the meat's natural sugar (glucose or lactose). High heat triggers that process, creating many different flavor compounds in what's known as the Maillard reaction.

Think of it this way: Have you ever tasted a poached chicken breast next to a golden-brown sautéed breast? The flavor is different, evidence of what that Maillard reaction does.

Searing or browning meat might seem similar to caramelizing, since there's color change (turning brown) and flavor creation in the presence of heat. But, they're not the same. Caramelizing is exclusively sugar (sucrose) oxidation. Caramelization is what happens to the tops and bottoms of cookies during baking; it's the difference between raw dough and a baked cookie.

I've been thinking about this lately because, when I rinsed out the bottom of my hot skillet after sautéing meat, a caramel brown liquid released when rinse water hit my skillet. I realized that I was rinsing away some great flavor.

When I recalled the open bottles of wine (one red, one white) in my refrigerator, a light bulb went on. After cooking a chicken breast or lean steak in my pan, I could add some of that wine, maybe some broth, and turn all those wonderful browned bits into a sauce.

Turning to a long-unopened Pam Anderson cookbook, "How to Cook Without a Book," I went straight to the chapter on pan sauces. "Pan sauces are the simplest and most natural way to flavor a chicken cutlet, fish fillet, pork chop, or steak," she writes.

Many such sauces take 10 minutes or more and are frequently enriched with lots of butter or cream. Anderson cut both time and fat and showed how to make various sauces using wine, tomatoes, vinegar, cider, oranges or lemon, mushrooms and even molasses.

With wine at the ready, I used it for an Anderson-inspired sauce substituting a dry white for her red wine. I seasoned and sautéed a couple of chicken breasts. I removed them from my skillet and returned my skillet to the stove. I whisked together wine, broth and Dijon mustard and added the mixture and simmered it two to three minutes until slightly thickened. Then I whisked in two teaspoons of butter. Ta-da, a delightful light sauce.

I served my chicken with some sauce drizzled over it. Flavor: spectacular. Preparation: easy.

As I ate, all sorts of ideas ran through my head. Maybe next time I could add a little fresh tarragon or thyme. I couldn't wait to experiment some more.

Eating lean isn't about eating less; it's about eating more -- flavor that is.

Here's the recipe. See if you don't agree that it takes less than 10 minutes to turn an ordinary meal into something extraordinary.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts With White Wine Mustard Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 ounces each), rinsed and dried thoroughly

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided

2 teaspoons olive oil

¼ cup fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth

¼ cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Place oven rack in the middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees.

Rinse chicken breasts under cold water and pat dry with clean paper towels. With a meat mallet or the dull side of a chef's knife, pound thickest parts of chicken breasts until flattened to the same thickness as the thinner parts. Season both sides of each breast with salt and pepper. Spread flour on a dinner plate and then dredge both sides of each breast through the flour, shake to remove excess and set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons butter and oil in a well-seasoned, 12-inch iron skillet over high heat; swirling to combine. When butter and oil are hot, but not smoking, place breasts in skillet, skinned side up. Reduce heat to medium-high and sauté until nicely browned, about 4 minutes. Turn breasts over and cook on other side until meat feels firm when pressed in the thickest part, or an instant-read digital thermometer registers 165 degrees, about 4 minutes. Remove breasts to a pan or plate, tent with foil, and place in warm oven.

For the sauce: In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk chicken broth, wine and mustard; add to skillet and simmer, stirring to scrape up brown bits from skillet until reduced to ¼ cup, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, tilt up slightly so sauce pools, and whisk in remaining 2 teaspoons butter.

Divide chicken breasts between serving plates and drizzle one tablespoon sauce over each breast.

Serves four.

Nutrition values per serving (without added salt): 270 calories (28.1 percent from fat), 8.4 g fat (3.2 g saturated), 3.2 g carbohydrates, trace amount fiber, 40 g protein, 110 mg cholesterol, 177 mg sodium.