Lemon garlic pan sauce: the cassava-thickened finish for any seared protein

A pan sauce is one of the most useful techniques in AIP cooking because it turns the fond - the brown bits left in the pan after searing meat - into a ready-made sauce. The fond is pure flavor: caramelized protein and fat, concentrated. You deglaze it with liquid, build body with a small amount of cassava flour, and finish with acid and herbs. The result is something between a light gravy and a bright sauce, and it takes less time than washing the pan.

This version is built from garlic that roasts alongside the chicken (or whatever protein you are using), so the garlic has time to soften and turn sweet before it goes into the sauce. The cassava flour thickens without making the sauce gluey - it stays loose and pourable. Lemon and parsley go in at the very end, after the heat is off, to keep them bright.

The recipe is written to accompany seared chicken thighs, but the technique works with pork chops, salmon steaks, or duck legs. The bone broth carries glycine and collagen-supportive amino acids that benefit the gut lining. Keep the sauce warm but do not boil it after the lemon goes in - boiling turns lemon bitter.

Ingredients

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled (cook alongside your protein in the same pan)
• 1 cup chicken bone broth, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp cassava flour
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tbsp)
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Fine sea salt, to taste

Yield: About 1 cup of sauce, serving 4.

Method

If starting from a seared chicken pan: After your protein comes out of the skillet, leave the pan over medium heat with the roasted garlic cloves in it. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to press the garlic into a rough paste against the pan.

Whisk the cassava flour into the bone broth in a small bowl or measuring cup until smooth. Pour into the pan and scrape up all the fond from the bottom. Stir constantly as the sauce comes to a simmer and begins to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Taste and adjust the salt. The sauce should be loose enough to pour - add a splash more broth if it has thickened too much.

Spoon directly over the plated protein.

Variation as a standalone sauce: If making without a seared protein, melt 1 tsp of lard or coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the peeled garlic cloves and cook gently until golden and soft, about 5 minutes. Mash lightly, then proceed with the broth and cassava flour as above.

Note on cassava flour: Add it slurried into cold or room-temperature broth, never sprinkled directly into a hot liquid, or it will clump.

How to use it

• Spoon over seared or oven-roasted chicken thighs (the source it was designed for)
• Use as a sauce for pork chops or pork tenderloin
• Pour over roasted salmon or halibut fillets at plating
• Serve over cauliflower rice as a light gravy
• Use as a finishing sauce for pan-fried chicken strips

Storage

Refrigerator: up to 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of additional broth to loosen.

*Adapted from gutsybynature.com/skillet-roasted-chicken-thighs-with-lemon-garlic-sauce-aip/ by Jaime Hartman*