Chicken Marsala

When asked to find a recipe, I don’t always marry the first one I see. In the spirit of dating I find 3 or 4 different recipes and read them thru. And just like every girl does, I take the best recipe and make gentle suggestions on how to improve it. While sometime the best recipe should just be left as it is... A little nudge toward a girls liking isn’t a bad thing either. In my research, I find that most of the time the "bones" of the different recipes are very similar, it is the little nuances that specialize the dish to each chef and/or sometimes the region. I often do a little research on the history behind the dish. Getting an idea about where it came from and what the story behind it is. Everything has a story behind it, finding that story is all part of the experience of cooking. It honors the dish and the ingredients that make it.

I was asked by a friend to find a Chicken Marsala recipe for her. It was one of her favorites and she wanted to make it at home. Having never had Chicken Marsala before, I was very excited to take on the task. I hit up Google and found a Ton of recipes. Everyone from Emeril Lagasse, known for his emphasis on Creole and Cajun cooking styles, ( ? ) to the expected Giada De Laurentiis, an Italian chef that was actually born in Italy, and every home cook in between had a different version of the recipe. Marsala is a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Sorry Emeril...I think Giada has you beat on this one. But I did use the garnish of chopped chives from his recipe so I guess everyone wins.

As I expected each recipe had the same general idea, a Marsala mushroom reduction sauce served over chicken. Some of the recipes called for Shallot or Sweet Onion. Others didn’t even have onion in the recipe. I found many recipes that called for heavy cream and one that suggested sour cream, while again there was a fair share of them that did not have cream at all. But all of the recipes called for mushroom, chicken stock and Marsala wine. Trusting these "bones" I followed the basic technique of the wine reduction sauce and took some inspiration from several of the recipes and came up with this.

Chicken Marsala

• 2 Chicken breast
• Olive oil
• Butter -1/2 stick
• 3 c Sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1/2 Medium sweet onion
• 1 c Flour
• S/P to taste
• 1 tbsp Garlic powder
• 1/4 c Worcestshire
• 1/2 c Heavy cream
• 1 c Chicken stock
• 1/2 c Marsala wine
• Chives

Cut chicken breast in half and pounded into 2cutlets. Put into zip lock bag with Worcestshire while you finish prep work. In small bowl mix flour, salt and pepper to taste and garlic powder and set aside. Remove chicken from marinade and dredge chicken in flour mixture. In skillet brown chicken in about 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 pat butter. Bring heat up on pan slow so the butter does not burn. Remove browned chicken and set aside.

Add another pat of butter to the pan and add sliced mushrooms and onion. Toss to coat with the butter. Once mushrooms and onion are tender add the Marsala wine. Bring up to a boil and then reduce heat to med and let wine reduce by half. Stirring to get any browned bits to release from the pan.

Once wine is reduced add the chicken stock, cream and chicken back to the pan. Bring up to a boil again and then let simmer for about 6 min. Stir occasionally. (Just enough time to go and set the table).  Pull chicken out of sauce and plate on a nice platter or over cooked pasta add 2 more pats of butter to finish the sauce. And then pour over chicken.  Garnish with fresh cut chives.