Chef Juliette
John Dory (St. Pierre)
John Dory has the delicacy of sole and the firmness of turbot. A light flouring, a quick butter sauté, and nut-brown beurre noisette show exactly why looks never mattered.
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Suprêmes de Volaille au Parmesan
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1612, Suprêmes de Volaille au Parmesan, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Parmesan replaces crumbs around tender chicken suprêmes, while butter-browned polenta croûtons catch every spoonful of beurre noisette. The lesson is heat: bronze the cheese gently before the chicken loses its tenderness.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
30 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
Suprêmes de Volaille au Parmesan (Parmesan-crusted chicken breasts) teaches the discipline of the sauté. Parmesan browns faster than chicken cooks, so the suprêmes must be even in thickness and the heat must remain moderate. Get that balance right and the coating turns deeply golden while the meat stays tender beneath it.
The original entry assumed a brigade tray of Polenta (No. 2294) already cold, a commis to shape the croûtons, and enough burners to cook every piece at once. It needs no stock kept on the fire and no separate sauce from a saucier; a salamander would only scorch the cheese. At home, one chilled polenta slab, one wide skillet used in sequence, and a low oven standing in for the holding cabinet do the same work. Four small breasts replace the brigade quantity, and their thick ends are gently flattened because modern market breasts are larger and less even.
The tray, spare hands, and extra burners are scaffolding, so they can go. The egg-and-Parmesan coating, the butter sauté, the clarified-butter croûtons, and the last-minute beurre noisette (nut-brown butter) are the dish, so every one stays. Before the first suprême meets the pan, make its thick end match its thin end; even thickness lets the cheese reach bronze at the same moment the chicken reaches tenderness.
Suprêmes de Volaille au Parmesan belongs to the cosmopolitan Parisian classical table rather than to one French province, with Parmesan and maize polenta absorbed from the Italian kitchen into the grand repertoire. Here croûtons does not mean bread, but pieces of set polenta cut to echo the shape of the chicken and browned in clarified butter, a classical habit of making the garnish mirror the principal piece. The dish moved easily into the bourgeois home because its grand appearance depends on disciplined sautéing, not elaborate equipment.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets
Quantity
4 (about 1⅓ pounds / 600 g total)
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
freshly ground white pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
large eggs
Quantity
2 (about ½ cup / 100 g without shells)
beaten
Parmesan
Quantity
1¼ cups (300 ml / 110 g)
finely grated
prepared polenta
Quantity
2½ cups (600 ml / 600 g) chilled Polenta (No. 2294)
for 4 suprême-shaped croûtons
clarified butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
for browning the polenta croûtons
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
for sautéing the suprêmes
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g)
for the beurre noisette
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets | 4 (about 1⅓ pounds / 600 g total) |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| freshly ground white pepper | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| large eggsbeaten | 2 (about ½ cup / 100 g without shells) |
| Parmesanfinely grated | 1¼ cups (300 ml / 110 g) |
| prepared polentafor 4 suprême-shaped croûtons | 2½ cups (600 ml / 600 g) chilled Polenta (No. 2294) |
| clarified butterfor browning the polenta croûtons | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| unsalted butterfor sautéing the suprêmes | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| unsalted butterfor the beurre noisette | 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) heavy nonstick or well-seasoned skillet
- •Wide flexible spatula
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Small rimmed sheet pan
- •Two shallow coating dishes
Instructions
- 1
Shape the croûtons
Heat the oven to 200°F (95°C) and set a small sheet pan inside. Reach for the Polenta (No. 2294) fully chilled and firm, then cut four pieces about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick, each tapered into the rough silhouette of a chicken suprême. Pat their surfaces dry. Cold polenta cuts cleanly; if a croûton cracks, press the edges together while cold and chill it for another ten minutes. Ça se rattrape.
- 2
Brown the polenta
Heat the clarified butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. When it flows freely and gleams, add the polenta croûtons without crowding and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until their faces are golden and their edges feel firm beneath a spatula. Clarified butter matters here because its milk solids have been removed, letting the polenta brown without bitter specks. Transfer the croûtons to the warm sheet pan and hold them in the low oven.
- 3
Prepare the suprêmes
Pat the chicken dry. Place each suprême between sheets of parchment and tap only the thick end until the breast is an even ⅝ inch (1.5 cm) thick; this is shaping, not pounding it into a cutlet. Season both sides with the salt and white pepper, then let the meat stand for 10 minutes while you arrange the coating dishes.
- 4
Coat just before cooking
Put the beaten eggs in one shallow dish and the finely grated Parmesan in another. Dip each suprême into the egg, let the excess fall away, then press it into the Parmesan so both sides wear a thin, close coat with no heavy clumps. Coat the chicken immediately before it reaches the skillet. If the cheese becomes wet and pasty while it waits, it slides away from the meat; scrape off the loose patch, press on fresh Parmesan, and carry on.
- 5
Sauté with discipline
Wipe the skillet clean and melt the sautéing butter over medium-low heat. When it foams and begins to quiet but remains blond, lay in the suprêmes with space between them. Cook without disturbing them for 3 to 4 minutes, until the underside is evenly golden and releases when eased with a thin spatula. Turn once and cook the second side for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the coating is bronzed and the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C). Parmesan browns quickly, so if the crust darkens before the centre is ready, lower the heat, set a lid slightly ajar over the skillet, and give it another minute. Ça se rattrape. Transfer the chicken to a warm plate for a brief rest.
Do not turn the suprêmes repeatedly. The egg must set and bind the Parmesan before the crust can release cleanly from the pan. - 6
Make the beurre noisette
Wipe every loose cheese crumb from the skillet, because burnt Parmesan can masquerade as browned butter solids. Add the finishing butter and cook over medium heat, swirling the pan as it foams. Watch the pale milk solids on the floor of the skillet: when they turn hazelnut-brown and the butter smells toasted, pull the pan from the heat at once. If the specks go black, don't pour it over the chicken. Wipe the pan and begin again with fresh butter; burnt beurre noisette cannot be reasoned with.
- 7
Plate and serve
Set one hot polenta croûton on each plate and place a suprême directly over it, matching their shapes. Spoon the beurre noisette over the chicken at the final moment, letting a little run down onto the polenta. Serve immediately, while the Parmesan remains crisp and the butter still gleams. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose four small chicken breasts of similar size. If the market offers only enormous ones, split two horizontally into four broad fillets; an even piece cooks more honestly than a thick breast burned outside and raw at its centre.
- •Grate the Parmesan finely from a wedge. Large ribbons won't form a close coat, while powdered pre-grated cheese often contains starch that turns the egg layer pasty.
- •Clarified butter is not decoration. Whole butter burns during the longer browning of the polenta, while clarified butter gives the croûtons time to form a proper golden surface.
- •Discard any beaten egg and Parmesan left in the coating dishes after they have touched raw chicken. They are not tomorrow's omelette.
- •A white Burgundy from the Mâconnais has enough freshness for the Parmesan and the rounded, nutty character to meet the beurre noisette without quarreling.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the Polenta (No. 2294) through its own entry and chill the finished garnish slab until completely firm, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Keep it covered so its surface does not dry and crack.
- •The chicken can be trimmed and shaped up to 4 hours ahead, then kept covered in the refrigerator. Season and coat it only shortly before cooking.
- •Do not make the beurre noisette in advance. Its toasted perfume and clear gloss are strongest in the few minutes after it leaves the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 330g)
Calories
700 calories
Total Fat
44 g
Saturated Fat
25 g
Trans Fat
2 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
300 mg
Sodium
1010 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
49 g
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