Chicken Marsala
Pounding the chicken cutlets before cooking renders them thin and terrifically tender. Deglazing the pan with Marsala and stock after cooking the chicken creates a quick, rich sauce.
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Credit: Maxime Iattoni
INGREDIENTS
1¼ lb. chicken cutlets, pounded until ¼" thick (about 8)Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
⅓ cup flour
5 tbsp. olive oil
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
8 oz. white button mushrooms
2 tbsp. minced shallots
1 clove garlic, minced
⅓ cup dry Marsala wine
⅓ cup chicken stock
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in ⅓ cup flour. Heat 2 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add chicken, and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate, and set aside. Add 2 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. butter, and then add mushrooms; cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plate with chicken, and set aside.2. Heat remaining oil in skillet, and then add shallots and garlic; cook, stirring, until soft, about 1 minute. Add remaining flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add Marsala and stock and cook, scraping bottom of pan until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Return chicken and mushrooms to skillet, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes, and season with salt and pepper before serving.
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Do not add the butter with the balance of the oil. Save it until the very end. Take the chicken marsala off the heat and stir in the remaining butter to finish the sauce. It's perfection. Thanks for the recipe! No more need to go out for my wife's favorite dish.
We concluded that it was actually a terrific mid-week dish - so easy to prepare but with results that are dinner-party quality.
If you prep all your ingredients in advance, it's very simple to put together with easy clean-up, too.
With that said, follow the directions somewhat closely. Everyone I cooked for said this was better than any restaurant they had gone to.
Tips:
1. Almost burn the chicken while in sauce pan. The sauce tends to soften the chicken (as you would guess). I liked it a little more crispy.
2. "Rest of flour" in the recipe is very small, but the perfect amt. I tried using more flour, and it didn't turn out as well w/ more flour.
3. Add more wine (I used about a cup+ more) :) use the dry marsala wine, not the cooking wine. The wine is about $11 at Beverages & more.
4. I put onions (yellow), shallots, and mushrooms than called for. I cook by sight and taste a lot - so just add slowly when you make the sauce
5. Added in italian parsley (fresh) - about 4 tbspns worth. this always adds great flavors to italian dishes
6. Finally, I believe this made the difference. I marinated the chicken for about 30-40 mins in the marsala wine (use a ziplock bag to lay flat). Then, added the marinated wine as I cooked (this was part of the extra wine I placed into the sauce)s