Chicken and Mushroom Marsala
Mar 4th, 2008 by Paul
Once again I find myself cooking a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I’m not sure if it’s flattery or plagiarism, I’m hoping the former. It seems every time I log into it I see not just a nice recipe, but something that I want for dinner straight away. When I saw the recipe title, I immediate thought it was an indian curry, but after a glance at the recipe list, it became obvious that we’re actually cooking with a fortified wine called Marsala.
The Marsala gives the mushrooms a delightfully nutty taste, which complements the chicken well, although next time I think I’ll cut the chicken breast into either tenderloins or cut then in half width wise, they were a bit dry in the middle where the flavour of the marsala hadn’t affected. I cooked a little too much liquid out, so I need to be more careful next time.
3 whole boneless chicken breasts with skin ( no skin for me so I can pretend to be healthy),
halved
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, sliced thin
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup Marsala
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a large plate as browned.
Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Marsala and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated.
Add broth and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter.
Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is just incorporated. Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.
