Today I'm going to show you how to make one of my hubby's favorite meals, chicken marsala. I have no clue if this is traditional or what. I winged it a long time ago, we liked it, so we kept doing it this way. Here's what you'll need:
Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless (mine are about 1 1/3#)
Small pack of Mushrooms, diced
3T Butter
3T Olive Oil
1/2 Medium Onion, diced
1C Flour + 2T
1t Salt
1/4t Pepper
2t Garlic Powder
1/4-1/2C Marsala Cooking Wine (mine's really cheap and it works great)
1/4-1/2C Cream
2C Homemade Chicken Stock (forgot to put in picture)
Before getting your hands all chicken-y, pour your
flour, salt and garlic powder in a shallow dish.
Mix with a fork and set aside.
Place a chicken breast in a gallon baggie and close the slider.
Man, look at the size of that baby! This must've been the Dolly Parton
of all chickens! Hubba Hubba! Har de har har!
Using the flat side of your meat mallet, pound the breast thin.
See how grody and dull my meat mallet is?
That's because I washed it in the dishwasher.
Apparently, you're not supposed to do that. No one told me.
I usually pound the hell outta mine, taking out my aggressions,
before I notice I've smashed it perhaps a little too much. If you do
this, it may fall apart on you a bit. That's okay, you can just take
those small pieces and make 'nuggets' out of them for the kids.
To make things easier on me, I just cut mine into quarters.
Now, let's get our pan ready. In a large pan (mine is at least 14", maybe even 16"),
place your butter and olive oil over medium/low heat. The recipe above calls for
3T of each butter and oil. As you can see below, I used 4 of each and it was a little
too much, so please follow the recipe. I've learned recently that you really shouldn't
heat up Olive Oil or it loses its nutritional value. But I figured even EVOO that has
lost nutritional value is better than using vegetable oil that had none to begin with.
Had I been thinking, I should have used coconut oil (the unscented/unflavored kind).
Using tongs, dredge your chicken pieces in the flour mixture
one at a time. Turn over to coat the other side. Shake off well.
We're not trying to create a fried chicken crust so much as a little
dusting that will make our chicken crispy and yummy.
Place your chicken in the hot oil to fry. Now, most recipes
you see will tell you to cook 4 minutes on each side. Mine is
NEVER done in 4 minutes. Ever. Mine usually takes about 10
on each side. I suppose if you were to partially cook it, then
finish it in the sauce afterward, the 4 minutes would be fine.
We like ours good and crispy, like this! This is when I turn mine over,
when it's golden brown. Mmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmnnn! Turn over
and cook until the other side is done. Do your 2nd batch as well, if you have one.
Set on paper towels to drain while you prepare your sauce.
See those yummy brown bits in the bottom of the pan? Don't get
rid of those! We need those to help flavor our sauce.
Using the remaining butter/oil in the pan to saute,
throw in your diced onions and mushrooms.
Saute until brown and soft. We like things browned around here.
Sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of flour. NOT from your earlier mixture,
please. It's contaminated with raw chicken germs, remember?
Yes, I'm a germaphobe. Thank you.
Mix well and cook for a few minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour.
It will all clump together like this. That's okay.
Working in small batches, add in your chicken broth, stirring constantly.
I do it slowly because this eliminates lumps. Pour, stir, pour, stir and so on.
I'm actually using bone broth that is very nutrient-dense and healing.
I didn't make a tutorial on it because I made it quite by accident one day.
As you stir, scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. This will
get up all those yummy browned bits and add tons of flavor to our sauce.
If your sauce is too thick, add some more stock (or even water).
Let your pan sauce come to a simmer. It will thicken up when it simmers
Your pan sauce will look something like this when it thickens.
Add in 1/4-1/2C of your marsala now. Taste it and see if you need
more. It's all based on how much you like.
Now, some people add the chicken back in at this point and turn the heat to low.
For demonstration purposes, I did, but I usually don't because
it's a bunch of switching stuff around. If you par-cooked your chicken
earlier, you would need to do this. At this point, I would cover it with
a lid and let it simmer until the chicken is fork-tender. I've done both ways.
Just depends on what I'm in the mood for and how much other stuff I
want to cook while the chicken takes care of itself. The longer you let it
go, the more concentrated the sauce will get. Keep an eye on it.
I totally forgot to take a picture of the next part, but at this point,
you would remove the chicken to a plate, take the pan off the heat,
and add in 1/4-1/2C of heavy cream. Just to taste. Mix well and
pour over your chicken and whatever else you are serving. In this case,
my hubby made FAKE mashed potatoes from a box that I refused to eat, LOL!
Blech! We did have a veggie, but didn't have it ready yet. Anyway,
you get the idea. I always salt/pepper to taste afterward on meals like this
because pan sauces can become quite salty after they reduce,
especially if using store-bought stock. Don't waste your money on it.
Notes:
I titled the post as 'easy', which it is. However, this can be a bit time-consuming depending on how much you make because you have to cook it in batches. The end product is worth it though! I made this whole batch of chicken marsala (8 pieces/2pcs per serving) for about $5.00 (including the sauce, but excluding the fake potatoes) and it fed 3 people. It should have fed four, but my husband ate enough for two people, lol. The chicken only cost $3.31 and there was 1 1/3 pounds in there! Those chicken breasts were huge... about 2/3Lb (10 1/2oz) each! Using homemade stock really helps to save on money and is very good for you. Give it a try sometime and let me know what you think!
