Chicken Marsala

This looked so pretty in my big baking pan right out of the oven..  but we dug in before I got a picture.  I put these two extra pieces on a plate for the photo, and it doesn't look nearly as good...  but trust me, it tastes good!   This is one of my favorite meals.  This is also one of those times where I adapt a "regular" recipe to feed a family of 6, with 4 teenagers.  When the recipe says "return chicken to the pan" I know I'm in trouble - to cook enough chicken for all of us in one pan is usually not feasible.  I'd need a bigger pan.  :-)

At the bottom of this post is Emeril's recipe, which is sort of what I used as my guideline, and has exact measurements, for those of you who cook with measuring cups.  I rarely measure - I cook 3 meals a day, every day, for this crew..  I can pretty much guess amounts.  For most things. I did measure out the wine and chicken broth, roughly, for this dish.  Well, I poured the bottle of marsala wine into a measuring cup, figured there was only 3/4 of a cup, roughly left in the bottle, then used the entire bottle.  That's my idea of measuring.

Heather's Chicken Marsala

Pound chicken thin

Add salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and garlic powder to flour

dredge chicken in flour

fry chicken lightly in very little oil (does not have to be cooked through)

Remove chicken to big baking dish

Add a little butter to the pan (it was sort of dry)  

Cook mushrooms (add a little wine if pan is still to dry)

Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon, spooking over chicken

add Marsala wine (I used roughly 3 cups for 9 chicken breast halves)

simmer the wine until it is reduced, or thickened

Add 2 cups of chicken broth - I mixed a little of the leftover flour in to make more of a gravy

When thickened, pour sauce over the chicken

Put in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes

Emeril's Chicken Marsala

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows

2 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves and pounded thin

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons butter

3 cups sliced mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake)

3/4 cup Marsala

1 cup chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour and Essence and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the chicken breast halves in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

 Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the pan and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid.

Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

 When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Lower the heat to medium and return the chicken breasts to the pan and continue to cook until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.