chicken marsala

I really love making classic dishes.  My first step is usually to read through several recipes to get a good idea of the standard ingredients and preparation methods.  Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen are often my gold standard for cooking reference.  Gourmet magazine is also an excellent standard not only for classics, but also for new flavor trends and food concepts.  Sadly, the end is near for Gourmet.


I made chicken marsala for dinner with friends the other night and based my dish on the two recipes below.  I served the chicken and sauce over fresh linguine.  bon appetit!

cook's illustrated chicken marsala recipe

chicken marsala from Gourmet

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon each of:  dried rosemary, dried basil, dried sage
pinch of cayenne
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons shallot, diced
2.5 oz pancetta
8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup sweet marsala
1/4 cup chicken stock   [next time, I would use 1 cup marsala and 1/2 cup of stock]
Juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
Chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place large heatproof dinner plate on oven rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees F. Heat 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until very hot (you can hold your hand 2 inches above pan surface for 3 to 4 seconds), about 3 minutes. Pat chicken breasts dry. Meanwhile, place flour and seasonings in shallow baking dish or pie plate. Season both sides of chicken cutlets with salt and pepper; working one piece at a time, coat both sides with flour. Lift breast from tapered end and shake to remove excess flour; set aside. Add oil to hot skillet and heat until shimmering. Place floured cutlets in single layer in skillet and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip cutlets and cook on second side until golden brown and meat feels firm when pressed with finger, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to heated plate and return plate to oven.
2. Return skillet to low heat and add pancetta; saute stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits until pancetta is brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towel-lined plate. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium-high; saute stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until liquid released by mushrooms evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cooked pancetta; saute while stirring, about 1 minute. Off heat, add Marsala; return pan to high heat and simmer vigorously, scraping browned bits from pan bottom, until sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, about 5 minutes. Off heat, add lemon juice and any accumulated juices from chicken; whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings