Chicken Marsala Cooks Illustrated Recipe 415

CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Place the flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a ziplock bag. Add the chicken to the bag; seal bag tightly and shake to coat chicken evenly. Set aside.
• Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (Use a stainless steel pan for the best browning. Nonstick will work too, but you won't get that nice golden color on the chicken.) Place the flour-dusted chicken in the pan, shaking off any excess first, and cook, turning once, until the chicken is golden and just barely cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
• Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon of salt; cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the broth, Marsala, heavy cream, thyme, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon of pepper; use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan into the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by about half, slightly thickened, and darkened in color, 10 to 15 minutes (you're going for a thin cream sauce; it won't start to thicken until the very end of the cooking time). Add the chicken back to the pan, along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce thickens a bit more, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.
• Note: If your chicken breasts are large (like the ones in the photos that are about ¾ lb. each), it's best to first cut them horizontally to form four flat fillets, then pound them to an even ¼-inch thickness. If you pound large chicken breasts without first halving them, they'll be huge. Of course, you could also pound them thin first and then cut them in half vertically; the only drawback is that they'll lose their natural shape (which, admittedly, is not a big deal!).

CHICKEN MARSALA (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED) RECIPE - (4.1/5)

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place large heatproof dinner plate on oven rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees. 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 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. Return skillet to low heat and add pancetta; sauté, 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; sauté, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until liquid released by mushrooms evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, and cooked pancetta; sauté while stirring until tomato paste begins to brown, 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.

CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Add marsala wine and chicken broth to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let gently boil until reduced to 1 cup**, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge each side in flour.
• Melt 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and let sear until cooked through (165 in center), turning once halfway through, about 10 - 12 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a plate. Tent with foil.
• Reduce burner temperature to medium heat. Melt remaining 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add mushrooms.
• Sauté mushrooms, just tossing occasionally (and increasing burner temp slightly as needed to encourage browning), until mushrooms have shrunk and are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic during last 1 minute of sautéing.
• Remove pan from heat then pour in marsala reduction***, thyme and oregano.
• Return to heat, bring to a simmer, while scraping up browned bits from the bottom, then stir in cornstarch chicken broth mixture. Stir until thickened****.
• Off heat stir in heavy cream, season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Return chicken breasts to pan, spoon sauce over top.
• Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Put the chicken breasts between sheets of cling film and beat, using a meat mallet or rolling pin, until about 5mm thick. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Put the flour on a plate and dip the chicken in it to coat lightly, shaking off any excess.
• Melt half the butter and oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden-brown. Set aside.
• Wipe the pan with kitchen paper. Heat the remaining butter and oil over a medium heat and gently fry the shallot and garlic for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add the Marsala and increase the heat to high. Cook until the liquid has reduced in volume by about half. Turn the heat back down to medium, add the stock and chicken. Cook for about 10 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

CHICKEN MARSALA VIA COOKS COUNTRY RECIPE - (4.6/5)

Steps:

• 1. Pat the chicken cutlets dry with paper towels and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Dredge the cutlets in the flour to coat and shake off excess. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a non stick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add 4 cutlets and cook until golden brown, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a large plate and tent with foil. Repeat with the remaining oil and cutlets. 2. Melt one tablespoon of the butter in the now empty skillet over medium high heat. Cook the mushrooms and onion till browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant , about 30 seconds. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl and tent with foil. 3. Add the marsala and brioth to the empty skillet, bring to a boil over high heat, and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and return the chicken and sccumulated juices to the skillet, and turn the chicken to heat through, about 1 minutes. Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Off the heat, whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, lemon juice, parsley, and mushroom mixture. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

THE BEST CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Cut two 12-inch sheets of plastic wrap.
• Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise, making 6 roughly equal pieces; they should look like large chicken tenders. Place one sheet of plastic on a clean cutting board. Put a chicken piece in the center of the plastic and top with the other sheet of plastic. Pound the chicken with the flat side of a meat mallet, starting in the center and working your way to the edges, until the chicken is 1/4 inch thick and 6 to 8 inches long. Transfer to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Liberally sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
• Mix the flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a generous amount of pepper in a shallow bowl or plate. Dredge the cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 1 minute. Sear 3 cutlets until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the cutlets to a plate. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and sear the remaining 3 cutlets until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. It's ok if the chicken is not completely cooked through; it will finish cooking in the sauce.
• Add the mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the same pan and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until the mushrooms are slightly softened and just beginning to release some liquid, 3 to 4 minutes. (The mushrooms will soak up the oil quickly and dry up the pan; that's ok, more liquid will release as they cook longer.) Add the shallots and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Pour in the wine and 1/2 cup water. Return the pan to high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the liquid reduces by a third and starts to thicken, 6 to 7 minutes. Whisk in the butter and continue whisking until it is melted and the sauce has thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the cutlets and any accumulated juices to the pan and cook, flipping halfway through, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the chicken to a platter and stir the parsley into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with more parsley.