Dana’s Chicken Marsala

After spending a week in NY, I have been craving a good marsala dish, which is another popular choice in my good old stomping grounds of Queens.  That’s the one thing I miss the most about NY….the FOOD!  So, I am forced to recreate my favorites when I am craving a certain flavor!  Rex has been more open to sharing the kitchen with me these days….and so, here we go!

I was very happy with this recipe.  My only advice when following this recipe is to let the sauce thicken up more at the tail end of the preparation.  I was a ravenous beast after cooking this meal and smelling the amazing aromas this food was giving off made me rush the ending because I was dying to dig in.  Oh, and I had a cranky baby to deal with, who was ready for bed and needed a bath.  All things considered, this was a winner of a dish and will now be a staple in our house.  I hope you enjoy it!

Dana’s Chicken Marsala

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Enough to keep the chicken warm.

Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Then, boil uncovered until reduced to ¾ cup (took about 20 mins on my stovetop). Set aside.

Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Cook the shallots in 3 tablespoons of butter in the heavy skillet. Stir until the shallots begin to turn golden, about 1 minute.

Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon of sage, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid the mushrooms give off is evaporated and the mushrooms begin to brown (took me approx. 9 minutes, but this will vary). Remove from heat and set aside.

Add the flour to a pie plate or wide bowl. Gently pound chicken to ¼ inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using the flat side of a meat tenderizer (I halved 3 chicken breasts and pounded out the 6 pieces of chicken for this recipe).

Using paper towels, pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Then dip each piece of chicken in the flour, make sure to shake off any excess flour and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium/high heat until the foam subsides, then saute’ 2 pieces of chicken (or however many fit in your skillet without touching) at a time. Turn each chicken breast over once, until they are golden and just cooked through. This should take approx. 4-5 minutes total once your pan is hot.

Transfer the cooked chicken to a large heatproof dish, arranging in single layer. (I use a very large Pyrex). Place the dish in the oven to keep the chicken warm. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and cook the remaining chicken in the same manner, transferring to the platter in the oven as you are done.  Don’t wipe out the brown bits after the last batch of chicken is cooked.  You want that for the sauce.

After you are done cooking the chicken, add ½ cup of the marsala wine to the skillet you cooked the chicken in and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up the brown bits, for about 30 seconds. Add the reduced broth, cream, and mushrooms, then simmer. Stir occasionally until the sauce is slightly thickened (about 10 mins – I would extend this a bit, since I felt like I rushed this part and the sauce could have been thicker).

Add lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons of marsala wine and ½ teaspoon sage.

Serve chicken with the sauce. You can either pour all the sauce over the chicken or reserve some sauce to pour over the chicken when serving.  We served the chicken over mashed potatoes.  It was delicious!

Enjoy, we devoured this dish!

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Dana's Chicken Marsala

Dana's Favorite Chicken Marsala

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4

Author: Dana

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups reduced sodium chicken broth 14 fl oz
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 16 oz mushrooms I purchase sliced mushrooms for this dish
• 1 ½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage you will use the ½ teaspoon sage at the very end of the recipe
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds total of skinless boneless chicken breast halves (I used 3 breasts, halved them and pounded them out for 6 pieces of chicken in total)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup of dry Marsala wine and 2 tablespoons of dry marsala wine for later in the recipe I use Holland House
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180-200 degrees. Enough to keep the chicken warm. Put your oven rack in the center of the oven.
2. Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Then, boil uncovered until reduced to ¾ cup (took about 20 mins on my stovetop). Set aside.
3. Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook the shallots in 3 tablespoons of butter in the heavy skillet. Stir until the shallots begin to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon of sage, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid the mushrooms give off is evaporated and the mushrooms begin to brown (took me approx. 9 minutes, but this will vary). Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Add the flour to a pie plate or wide bowl. Gently pound chicken to ¼ inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using the flat side of a meat tenderizer (I halved 3 chicken breasts and pounded out the 6 pieces of chicken for this recipe).
5. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in the flour, make sure to shake off any excess flour and set aside.
6. Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium/high heat until the foam subsides, then sauté 2 pieces of chicken (or however many fit in your skillet without touching) at a time. Turn each chicken breast over once, until they are golden and just cooked through. This should take approx. 4-5 minutes total once your pan is hot. Transfer the cooked chicken to a large heatproof dish, arranging in single layer. (I use a very large pyrex). Place the dish in the oven to keep the chicken warm. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and cook the remaining chicken in the same manner, transferring to the platter in the oven as you are done.
7. After you are done cooking the chicken, add ½ cup of the marsala wine to the skillet you cooked the chicken in and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up the brown bits, for about 30 seconds. Add the reduced broth, cream, and mushrooms, then simmer. Stir occasionally until the sauce is slightly thickened (about 10 mins – I would extend this a bit, since I felt like I rushed this part and the sauce could have been thicker). Add lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons of marsala wine and ½ teaspoon sage.
8. Serve chicken with the sauce. You can either pour all the sauce over the chicken or reserve some sauce to pour over the chicken when serving.
9. Enjoy, we devoured this dish!

Recipe Notes

Adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Marsala-232152