Chicken Marsala

CHICKEN MARSALA

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts

1 lb wild mushrooms

(chanterelles, crimini or porchini)

1/2 c Marsala sweet wine

1 c chicken broth

1 garlic clove (minced)

1/4 onion

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

2-3 sprigs of thyme

1/2 sprig of rosemary

2 T parsley

2 t flour (sub 1 t cornstarch to keep GF)

1 T butter

Yield: 4 servings

I only took a picture of the chicken because you can pair it with a couple of different things. Tonight I made smashed potatoes and peas. It would also go great with linguini, or mashed potatoes, even just a hearty bread would be great. Also, instead of peas a great vegetable side would be roasted brussel sprouts (recipe soon to come). If you're a vegetarian you can even leave out the chicken and just cook the mushrooms and onions with the marsala and put them over a creamy polenta.

First I like to dry my chicken. I put it on a kitchen towel to remove an excess liquid. This will help with searing. Searing, for any meat, is going to help retain natural juices. After placing the meat on the towel, fold the towel over top of the chicken.

Pound down on the chicken to tenderize it a bit. I like using my fist, but you can also use a meat hammer.

Lightly salt your chicken.

Put 1 T of oil in a hot pan, using tongs, place your chicken in the pan carefully.

Once both pieces of chicken are in the pan I like to take the towel, that I used to dry the chicken, and put it in my washer. I use the tongs so I don't get any germs on my hands, then I wash the tongs. You don't want to cross contaminate any germs, especially when dealing with raw chicken.

If you don't move the meat you're more likely to get a better sear. Just let the meat sit in the hot pan for a while before checking. When you see nice browning you can flip it over.

Don't cook the chicken too long on this side, just enough to start it cooking. You'll finish off cooking it in the sauce.

This chicken, even though it's cooked on the top is still raw. Cover up the chicken until it is ready to put back in the sauce, once you put it in the sauce transfer the plate to the dishwasher or sink.

Start cooking your mushrooms. In a pan with 1 T of oil, don't move them around too much, just like the meat you want to get a good sear on them. You want to get the liquid out of mushrooms, the fresher the mushrooms the more liquid you'll have to extract. I like to cook my mushrooms in 2 batches so I don't overcrowd the pan.

When the mushrooms start getting a good caramelization you can add the onions.

I cook 1/2 the onions with the first batch of mushrooms and then the other half with the second batch. When the onions start to become translucent you can add the garlic.

You don't have to mince the garlic super fine, but you also don't want big chunks of garlic throughout the sauce.

Add the wine and cook out the alcohol, about 1 minute simmering. If you are cooking with gas always remove your pan from the flame before adding any alcohol. You don't want a fire getting out of control in your kitchen.

After a minute or so, add your broth.

Add your herbs and simmer mixture for 1-2 minutes on medium heat.

Liquid will reduce, but the mixture will still be wet.

Put the chicken back into the pan. Put the plate that had the chicken on it into the dish washer, or sink. You don't want to cross contaminate.

Using a spoon, put a little bit of the sauce over the chicken.

Cover the pan and on low-medium heat, simmer for 7-10 minutes. If you don't know if the chicken is cooked by touching it, take the temperature. It should be 165 degrees.

Each serving is half a breast. I like to cut the breast in half vertically, then slice it in half horizontally. You can cut it like this prior to cooking, but adjust your cooking time because it will cook faster.

When the chicken is cooked, add 2 t of flour to the sauce. The sauce will begin to thicken. Finish the sauce off with 1 T of butter.

Make sure to use all of the sauce, you don't want it to go to waste. Enjoy.