Serve chicken cutlets with tart orange sauce and olives

NOW that my kids are on their own and cooking for themselves, both have thanked me for passing on one technique in particular: how to cook a thin piece of protein and make a pan sauce from the drippings. It is indeed a quick, easy and affordable skill with endless variations. It also guarantees a deeply delicious entree. Consider this recipe — chicken cutlets topped with a tart orange sauce — the template for the technique.

Whenever you use it, you have to start with a thin piece of protein to ensure that it cooks quickly and evenly. Here I’ve chosen thinly sliced chicken cutlets. If the only breasts available at your supermarket are large and thick, bring them home, pop them in the freezer for 30 to 40 minutes (which firms them up) and then, very carefully, slice them in half width-wise to produce two thinner cutlets. If you’d prefer pork to chicken, just buy half-inch-thick boneless pork chops and trim off any excess fat.

Before sauteing the meat, you’ll need to dredge it in flour. This step prevents the meat from drying out by coating and insulating it. (Both chicken breasts and boneless pork chops are very lean.) It also serves to thicken the sauce when the protein is added back to the pan. My flour of choice is Wondra, a venerable brand favored by my grandmother that was magically designed not to lump up in gravy. It also produces a nice light coating for the cutlets.

After you’ve browned the cutlets in a little oil and moved them onto a plate, there’ll be some concentrated juices sitting on the bottom of the pan. To deglaze the pan and dilute the brown bits, you’ll need to add liquid, usually something acidic. Wine is traditional, but a little vinegar and/or citrus can also do the job. Here I call for sherry vinegar, but balsamic, red, white, or cider vinegar would be fine, too.

Next you’ll add some chicken broth, then reduce the liquid a bit before returning the cutlets to the pan to finish cooking them gently as the