Recipe #4 - Chicken Marsala

It's Saturday night and the mood is right for some Chicken Marsala.  I've made this dish before with other recipes so let's see how Tyler handles this Italian restaurant staple.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html

Right from the start I enjoyed the short list of ingredients.  I'm a big fan of recipes with 10 ingredients or less and this one has 10 so we're good there.

I can see you hiding peeps!  We really need to eat those, but if you know peeps like I know peeps,  once you open them you have to eat them all or they will go stale. 

One of the ingredients I wrestled with was Chicken Stock or Chicken Broth.  The recipe calls for stock so there I was in the stock/broth isle with a container of stock in my left hand and a can of broth in my right.  The stock cost $3 while the broth was $1.  So what makes stock worth $2 more?  I figured they were pretty much the same so I went with the broth.  And I was sort of right.  I found out later that they both start with the same basic ingrendients, vegetables, water, herbs.  Broth is enriched with a chicken or meat while stock uses bones.  They say that stock gives your food a richer "mouth feel" and more body.  My mouth feels fine and my body is ok, even though I could lose about 10lbs.  If you want to read more on the subject check out this fellow blogspotter:

http://mmmthatsgood.blogspot.com/2008/05/stock-vs-broth.html

Another recipe change or more of a time saver is to buy thin sliced chicken breasts.

Good thing they are fresh.  I hate it when the package says spoiled chicken breasts.

But if you like pounding meat, by all means get regular non sliced chicken breasts and pound away to your hearts content.  

Either way, dredge those bad boys in the the flour mixture and cook in a hot pan with olive until brown on both sides like so.

I used my trusty cast iron skillet.  You can use whatever pan you like.  Notice the color tones of the chicken.  Reminds me of cooked  chicken.

Put the chicken aside and add your prosciutto

Sliced prosciutto on a bamboo cutting board.  I love the smell of bamboo in the morning.

cook for a bit, then add the shrooms

I used these baby bella which are baby porta bella's?  The recipe calls for crimini or porcini mushrooms but stop and shop didn't have a gourmet mushroom selection so it was either these or plain old white mushrooms.  I like the meatiness of the bella's so thes are my "go to" mushrooms when I can't find fancy ones.

Mushrooms and prosciutto haanging out together. 

  

Cook it all up with the Marsala, butter, chicken "broth", and season with salt and pepper.   Then add the chicken back to the pan to heat and mix up with the sauce and goodies.  

At this point I wish the internet had smellonet so you could smell the amazingness coming off this pan. 

And that's it!  The easiest dish I've made so far and one of the tastiest.  I paired it with linguini.  To plate, put a serving size of cooked pasta in the sauce to coat.  This infuses the flavor in the pasta plus heats it up if it's been sitting for a while.  

Don't forget the chopped parslay for garnish.  I used to think garnish was stupid and waste of money but it really adds color and texture to the dish. 

Ally liked it.  My wife and Michelle enjoyed it as well.  Just as good if not better than most Italian restaurants.

I almost forgot to give this dish my new rating of 4 clean plates and an easy button

Next up:  Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/dads-meatloaf-with-tomato-relish-recipe/index.html