Monterey Jack Chicken Filet with Pomegranate Beurre Blanc

      The pleasant tart fruit flavor of pomegranate is nice with the mellow rich flavor of Monterey Jack Cheese.  Many fruits have complimentary flavors that go well with certain kinds of cheese.  Cherries with camembert.  Figs with Lebanese village cheese.  Pears with Danish Bleu.  

     There are many offsetting fruit and cheese flavor combinations too.  Gorganoza stuffed dates achieve a deep rich unexpected flavor.  Chevre and avocado stuffed strawberries achieve another offsetting unexpected flavor surprise.    

     In Floribbean and caribbean cooking, fresh tropical fruit sauces are part of many entrees.  I worked with a few French caribbean chefs who liked to add fruit flavors to hollandaise and beurre blanc sauces.  Strawberry hollandaise over grilled red snapper tasted very nice.  Kiwi beurre blanc tasted nice with monkfish.  

     Unimaginative cooks and conservative cooks only picture fruits as being used for breakfast garnishes, desserts and ham or poultry glazes.  Many chefs that use fruits for savory cooking are criticized by conservative cooks, till the conservative cook realizes that their own unimaginative food is not selling as well as it used to.  Worldwide, the overall trend of food has moved from conservative to creative.  Many chefs who are new to the game of adapting fruits to savory recipes do not always realize that those avenues have been thoroughly explored and perfected by tropical resort chefs.  

     Those who have the yen to explore the science of taste sensations caused by certain combinations of food will gain a thorough understanding of how to please the palate with less guesswork.  Basic culinary recipe research is always a must for a good chef.  Now that the food science of how taste buds react to certain food combinations has become available in written form, there is plenty of good information to learn from.  The pioneers of molecular gastronomy cuisine took the science of taste to new levels that are a challenge for even the most experienced chef to completely understand.         

     Today's pomegranate beurre blanc Monterey Jack Chicken entree is easy to understand!  The medium that carries the pomegranate flavor to the cheese is comprised of butterfats, just like the cheese.  A beurre blanc is a gentle medium for fruit.  The combination of the beurre blanc and cheese marries nicely with the lean fat free chicken.  Dry or fat free meats tend to take to high fat content sauces and cheese.  The combination is pleasant on the palate.  

     Keep in mind, it is how fats are cooked that determines whether a fat is healthy or not.  The cholesterol profile of most fat is healthier when less heat is applied.  High temperatures and extended cooking times tend to convert the fat cholesterol profile into a hardened cholesterol that is considered to be unhealthy.  Eskimos eat lots of blubber, but they mostly eat raw blubber.  Eskimos do have a long lifespan.  Those who prefer fatty beef steak or pork shoulder steak that is cooked beyond well done may risk consuming far more hardened cholesterol from fat than an eskimo.  

     For those who consume low temperature cooked fats, like the fats that are found in cheese and beurre blanc sauces, the determining factor for good health is simply moderation.  Eating a meal that is high in butterfats every once in a while is okay for most people.  Eating cheese and beurre blanc with every meal may present a high risk of health problems for anybody.  Moderation is a key for any healthy diet.  Exercise or physical work is a key for converting fats into energy, instead of storing the consumed fats around ones own waistline.

     The food that I post in my blog is what I eat from day to day.  If you look at every recipe that I have posted, you will see that I do not feature beurre blanc, hollandaise, mayonnaise or cream sauces everyday or every week.  I consider high fat content sauces to be food that meant to be an occasional treat.  The same goes for high fat content meats, like pork belly.  

     I am usually very conservative with the amount of sauce that I put on a plate.  Michelin star rated chefs know better than to over sauce a plate.  Every now and then, I do over sauce an entree, with the sole intention of pleasing the readers who like a lot of sauce.  

     Beurre blanc is usually offered at the customer's table by a captain or a maitre d.  The maitre d will spoon your selection of beurre blanc flavor from a sauce boat onto your plate.  

     Serving food in a dining room is based 100% on the customers preferences.  Customer satisfaction is the key to profit.  Some customers enjoy well crafted sauces and they may prefer far more sauce than what most fine ding chefs will say is tasteful.  I have often heard chefs and members of the waitstaff comment about how a customer ruined a plate of food by asking for far more sauce than what the recipe required.  Nonsense!  The customer liked to indulge!    

     I'm sure that I will get criticized for presenting this recipe with a healthy large portion of the pomegranate beurre blanc.  I happen to be the customer who ate this plate of food.  I wanted more than enough of this great tasting beurre blanc to go with the lean chicken breast filets on this entree!  I indulged!            

     
     Pomegranate Beurre Blanc:
     This pomegranate beurre blanc is not made with a pomegranate reduction and the sauce is not strained.  The pomegranate fruit is added late in the recipe.  The pomegranate fruit is meant to be eaten with the Monterey Jack Chicken in this entree.  This style of presenting the pomegranate fruit in the beurre blanc is appealing to the eye.  More important, pomegranate fruit actually is beneficial for helping to control levels of cholesterol in the body, just like olive oil does.
     This is a true beurre blanc recipe, with no cream added.  A true beurre blanc is most often made to order or only held warm for a short time.  A true beurre blanc has a lower breaking temperature than hollandaise.    
     The secret to emulsifying a true beurre blance is to have a warm wine base and pan, then whisk in cold butter pats.  Cold is added to warm, while whisking to achieve a safe end temperature range somewhere between 85 to 95 degrees.  Too cold of an end temperature and the butter will try to become solid.  Too high of an end temperature and the butter will become melted.  The beurre blanc should be stirred often, if it is held before serving.
     For large batches of beurre blanc or for beurre blanc that will be kept warm for more than 30 minutes before serving, add 2 ounces of cream to the reduced wine.  Reduce the sauce again, till the beurre blanc base looks like a rich medium thick cream sauce.  Then follow the instructions for adding the butter.  This type of beurre blanc can be kept warm for a much longer period of time, with less threat of breaking.  This type of beurre blanc is often made in hot professional kitchens that have an air temperature of well over 100 degrees.  
     Cut 2 to 2 1/2 ounces of unsalted plugra butter or unsalted regular butter into butter pats.

     Chill the butter pats till they are needed.
     Place a small sauce pot over medium heat.

     Add 1 cup of dry white wine.

     Add 1 tablespoon of pomegranate vinegar.

     Add 1 chopped shallot.

     Season with sea salt and white pepper.  

     Reduce the wine, till it nearly becomes a syrup.  

     Reduce the temperature to very low heat.
     Note:  Placing the sauce pot over a warm stove top will provide gentle low heat.  Making a beurre blanc in a cold air conditioned home kitchen may result in the butter seizing, instead of emulsifying to become a sauce.  If the kitchen temperature is warm, then there will be no problem. 

     Add only 2 pats of butter at a time, while constantly whisking.  When the first couple of butter pats start to melt and emulsify with the reduced wine syrup, then add the next two butter pats while constantly whisking.  Repeat these steps, till all of the butter pats are emulsified with the reduced wine and a thin creamy looking butter sauce is formed.   

     Add 1 small handful of pomegranate fruit to the beurre blanc.  Be sure that the pomegranate fruit is also within the same warm temperature range as the beurre blanc!

     Remove the beurre blanc from the heat.

     Stir the fruit and the beurre blanc with a spoon, till the beurre blanc turns into the color of the pomegranate fruit. 

     Pour the pomegranate beurre blanc into a ceramic cup.

     Keep the pomegranate fruit beurre blanc warm on a stove top and stir once every few minutes, till it is served.

   
     Monterey Jack Chicken Filet: 
     Butterfly cut and split a large 6 to 8 ounce chicken breast filet into 2 thin filets.  

     Dredge the chicken filet halves in flour.  

     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.

     Add 4 pats of unsalted butter.

     Add the chicken filets.

     Saute the chicken filets on both sides, till the chicken is a little bit more than halfway cooked.

     Season with sea salt and white pepper.  

     Add 1/4 cup of dry white wine.
     Add 3/4 cup of light chicken broth.
     Simmer and reduce the liquid.
     Flip the chicken filets in the simmering liquid occasionally.

     The liquid fully reduces and it is nearly evaporated, then the chicken filets should be fully cooked.  

     Place a few thin slices of Monterey Jack Cheese on top of the chicken filets.

     Place the pan in a 350 degree over for 1 to 2 minutes, till the cheese melts.  (Do not brown the cheese!)

   
     Monterey Jack Chicken Filet with Pomegranate Beurre Blanc:
     Use a spatula to place the chicken filets on a plate.

     Use a ring mold to place some plain white sticky rice on the plate.  

     Place a vegetable of your choice on the plate.  (I served the chicken in the pictures with sauteed yellow squash, zucchini, okra and peppers that were seasoned with tarragon.)

     Spoon the pomegranate beurre blanc over the chicken filets and onto the plate.  

   
     Feel free to use a generous amount of the sauce with this entree.  The pomegranate beurre blanc is meant to be enjoyed with every bite of the Monterey Jack Chicken!  Yum!  ...  Shawna