Chicken Marsala a la Michael

[fitfool]

Michael cooks an excellent chicken marsala dish. I'll post his recipe though he does so many variations on the theme that it's always a new meal even though we eat this almost every week.

Just a warning...Michael's one of those intuitive cooks so all amounts here are estimates. It does seem to vary each time from when I've watched him so it seems like a really flexible recipe.

Ingredients
* 2 slices medium diced Bacon (preferably slab) or Pancetta
* 8-10 Mushrooms (Crimini and Button seem to work, though Shiitake might be nice) (sliced)
* 1 small Onion (sweet is better, I think) or 2 shallots (Diced)
* 2-3 Tbsp. Butter
* Vegetable or Canola Oil
* 1 Tbsp. Parsley
* Salt, Pepper, Dried Thyme, Basil, Oregano (about 3 shakes of each)
* 1 cup Flour (for dredging)
* Corn Starch & Water (for thickening the sauce) (about 1 Tbsp corn starch mixed in 1 ounce water)
* 2-3 cups Chicken Stock
* 1 cup White Wine or Marsala Wine (or ideally 1 cup of each)
* 1 Tbsp. Mango Chutney (or Apricot Preserves)
* 2 Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless)
* Lemon (just to squeeze some juice on at the end)(optional)

Serve with rice or potatoes.

Directions

1. Place chicken breasts between wax paper and pound gently to flatten the chicken to uniform thickness so that it cooks evenly.
   
   
   
   
2. Chop 2 or 3 pieces of bacon up in rough dice or as best you can and set aside. Use about a third of the chopped bacon to sauté the mushrooms and onion and the rest to sauté the chicken. You can use less if you don't want that much bacon, though the flavor will come through as an undercurrent, in case you're wondering. The trick with the bacon is to cook it enough so that it's not still white but not so much that it burns. I usually discard some of the pieces I cook with the chicken, as they do sometimes get away from me and overcook. Also, I'll use a small piece of butter here (1 tsp?) to saute with the mushrooms, onions, and bacon.
   
   Ideally, I suppose, you'd leave them with the first stage (when you sauté the mushrooms and onion) and remove them before the chicken finishes cooking. I'll refer to it later.
   
   
   
   
3. Sauté the sliced mushrooms, diced onions, and one third of the chopped bacon in a pan.
   
   
   
   
4. Mix the seasonings and the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge the flattened chicken breasts through the flour.
   
5. Brown the flattened chicken breast with the rest of the bacon mixture and maybe a Tbsp of butter.
   
6. In a cup, mix 1 to 2 heaping teaspoons of corn starch with some water (about 6 to 8 ounces) to make a cloudy suspension. Mix with a fork long enough so that no lumps of corn starch remain (takes about 30 seconds).
   
7. Set the chicken aside and deglaze the pan with the white wine or marsala wine or even both. Ideally, I like to first deglaze with 1 cup of white wine and once that's reduced a bit, I'll add the marsala wine and let that reduce too.
   
8. Now start throwing everything else for the sauce in. Bring in the chicken stock, chutney or preserves, and the previously sauteed mushrooms, onions, and bacon. For stock, you'll need about 2 cups but if you're not getting enough sauce, it's nice to have a 3rd cup of stock on hand to help increase the yield. Also add in that corn starch mixture to thicken the sauce.
   
   
   
   
9. Slide the chicken breasts back in and simmer until heated through.
   
10. If desired, squeeze a little lemon juice on just before serving.
    
    
    
    

Thread at food_porn

Comments

[deltamiss.livejournal.com]

Well, you've done it again!

I've been looking for a good Marsala recipe, and this one fits the bill perfectly. I looks a lot like the Chicken Marsala I had at Macaroni Grille.

Thanks!

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

So...sauteeing just means throwing everything in a pan on top of some vegetable oil, right? I'm only good at HI heat too...

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

That's funny! I tend to only use High heat too unless the directions specifically tell me otherwise. Drives Michael crazy. "If they wanted you to cook everything on Hi then they would have an on/off switch instead of a dial!" But I've since learned that when cooking the bacon, if you drop the heat to medium, it'll let you get more of the fat out so you can drain some of the fat off. It does the same at Hi too but you run a higher risk of burning the bacon. As for sauteeing, yes, just fry them quickly in some fat. You can use vegetable oil or just use some of the leftover bacon fat. And you can crank the heat back up to High for the sauteeing. :)

[cwhf.livejournal.com]

YUM. To memories it goes.

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

Why the chutney or preserves? That bit baffels me...

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Michael loves Major Grey's Chutney and will sneak it into anything he's eating if we have it in the house. Works really well with the traditional Chicken Marsala to give it a sweet twist. This is where the other variations often come in. When out of Major Grey's, he'll throw in other sauces or bits of dried fruits. I think we've had apricot preserves, raisins, cherries, and other dried fruits substituted into the sauce.

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

this recipe sounds delish, so I'll definitly be making it... but I am still not sure what the chutney does, other than add a bit o sweetness. Is that all its for?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Yes, the chutney or preserves just give the dish a little more oomph in the flavor dept. We have some variation on this dish pretty frequently so these little additions keep the dish seeming pretty new every time. You could easily leave the chutney/preserves out and still get a tasty dish.

[angelninas.livejournal.com]

Can I get the amounts of the ingredients? I really want to make it, but I don't want to mess it up.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

bother...I keep meaning to write down the quantities but I always forget and Michael moves quickly in the kitchen. I'm still planning to write it up properly eventually...

I did it :)

[angelninas.livejournal.com]

I actually mad eit up as I went and used your recommended ingredients and it was big hit! Thanks.

Re: I did it :)

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I'm glad you didn't wait around for me to ask him what his amounts were. Just updated it with his estimated amounts too.