Food & Drink

2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 halves)
2/3 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup all purpose flour for dredging
1/4 cup clarified butter
2 small garlic cloves, mashed
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup Florio Sweet Marsala wine
1/8 cup dry white wine
1 Tbls. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbls. whole butter

Step One: Prepare chicken breasts

Remove the tenders from the breasts if they are present, the long finger-like strips. Trim all fat and sinews and remove the thin membrane covering the breasts. Butterfly the breasts starting from the plump lobe side. Press firmly with the palm of your hand to achieve uniform thickness. Do not pound with mallet.

Step Two: Sauté chicken breasts

Place a 10", heavy bottomed sauté pan on high heat and add enough of the clarified butter to coat the bottom. When fat is hot enough to make a drop of water sizzle, immediately dredge the chicken breasts in the flour plate, shake off excess and place in the pan. Add the mushrooms at this point. Shake pan frequently to avoid sticking and continue until bottoms are golden brown. Turn breasts in the pan and reduce heat to medium. Add mashed garlic and immediately deglaze the pan with chicken broth. Chicken broth should be at least 1/2 inch deep in the pan. Add the Marsala wine, dry white wine, and whole butter.

Step Three: The finish

Continue cooking until chicken is done. If all is perfect the pan sauce will form at the same time the chicken and mushrooms are done. If the pan sauce has not yet come together, remove chicken and mushrooms from sauté pan and place on warm plates, turn heat to high and quickly reduce pan sauce to the proper consistency.

- http://www.parshift.com/ovens/Secrets/secrets021.htm

This is the recipe that I modeled my chicken marsala after. It was a great guide which turned out some very tasty results. I varied only slightly.

My local grocer offers chicken breasts that have been pre-sliced to uniform size (offered by a big-name chicken producer), which I like because they save me a little extra work. They worked perfectly for my marsala dish.

I did as directed and dredged the chicken before tossing it into a pan with a light butter coating and lightly cooked it on both sides before adding mushrooms and my sauce (chicken broth, marsala, white cooking wine and garlic). The site from which I grabbed the recipe suggests porcini mushrooms, but I had a limited selection. I opted for shiitake mushrooms which I thought were really great with the dish.

I erred on the side of caution and had my burner over a lower temperature so I wouldn't burn my chicken or the butter which just meant that I had to remove the chicken and reduce my sauce, which was no problem at all. I got a little antsy and didn't reduce as much as I should have, but I know that for next time.

I prefer chicken marsala served over mashed potatoes to pasta, so that was how I served it. If this had been less of a last-minute dinner idea I would have liked to do a red-skin mashed instead of the instant mashed (scoff all you like, I LOVE instant mashed potatoes.) I also roasted some asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper and a sesame seed finish which I think was more for garnish.

The meal went very well and there were no leftovers, which I took to mean my guests enjoyed the meal. Tips for next time: Reduce the sauce longer and make much more chicken; I was looking forward to those leftovers!