Chicken Marsala

 

My good friends Andy and Jared were coming over for dinner and I wanted to make a good basic chicken dish. I've known Andy and Jared since the summer after freshman year of college and while I get the pleasure of seeing Andy frequently, Jared lives in Boston, so it was wonderful to have them both in the same room!  Here is a picture of Andy and Jared with our dinner spread; chicken Marsala, couscous, veggies

I am pretty sure that I have only ever had chicken Marsala once in my life and that was while working at an Italian restaurant in the West Village. I decided to give it a shot and I looked up a ton of chicken marsala recipes to get a basic idea for the ingredients I needed. I adapted my version from Emeril Lagasse's Chicken Marsala recipe. We had our chicken Marsala over a bed of Israeli couscous and with spicy roasted cauliflower and yellow squash. I picked up a cheap bottle of Marsala wine on my way home and was surprised when I opened it up and it smelled and tasted like cheap Manischewitz! Maybe I just know nothing about wine... Anyways, was easy and tastes really rich and wonderful, hope you enjoy!

Chicken Marsala

(Makes 4 large servings)

Ingredients:

8 chicken breast cutlets, pounded

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tablespoons cayenne powder

2 pinches salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 tablespoons dried lead oregano

2 tablespoons dried thyme

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more

3 tablespoons butter

8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 cup Marsla wine

1 cup chicken stock

Ground pepper

Chopped chives for garnish

Directions:

1. Prepare a shallow plate with the flour, cayenne powder, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano and thyme. Mix the seasonings together and add more if you want.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When olive oil is hot, work quickly to dredge the cutlets in the seasoning mixture and then place them on the skillet with 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. (You may need to do the chicken in multiple batches). Cook the chicken until it is brown on each side, 3 minutes per a side, set aside.

3. When all the chicken cutlets have been set aside, add the mushrooms and onion to the skillet and another 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Cook, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are golden brown around the edges.

4. Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil. When wine has been cut in half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.

5. Lower the heat to medium and add all the chicken cutlets to the pan and cook them until the sauce has thickened and they are cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve immediately.