Chicken Marsala with Roasted Potatoes

Chicken Marsala is something I've never made - Jon doesn't really like big chunks of mushrooms, but since he was away yesterday, I decided to experiment with it. My friend Stacey came over and I love cooking new things for her.

I browsed several recipes before deciding on this one as it had many great reviews from cooks who have made it before. (Gourmet Magazine, June 2005, posted on Epicurious.com)

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used half butter, half olive oil)
• 10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (I used a mixture of shiitake and white mushrooms)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 lb total)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F.
• Bring broth to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat, then boil, uncovered, until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes.
• Cook shallot in 3 tablespoons butter in an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, 1 teaspoon sage, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Put flour in a wide shallow bowl. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, 1 piece at a time, shaking off excess. \
• Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté half of chicken, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cooked chicken to a large heatproof platter, arranging in 1 layer, then put platter in oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and cook remaining chicken in same manner, then transfer to oven, arranging in 1 layer. (I was able to cook all of the chicken at the same time)
• Add 1/2 cup wine to skillet and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, about 30 seconds.
• Add reduced broth, cream, and mushrooms, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Add lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons wine and 1/2 teaspoon sage.
• Serve chicken with sauce.

I needed to make a slurry of flour and water to add to the sauce to help thicken it. The sauce was a lot lighter in color than I thought it would be, but it was absolutely delicious. This sauce could be made on its own and poured over pork or steak, and it was even good poured over our roasted potatoes.

Roasted Potatoes

Stacey brought over some new potatoes. After cleaning them and cutting them into halves, we drizzled them with olive oil, then seasoned them with Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, fresh sage (minced), and dried thyme. They cooked on 400 for about an hour; we made sure to flip them 3-4 times during cooking.

Look at the color on these potatoes!

They were crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and the herbs gave them just the right type and amount of flavor.

After dinner we watched a horrible Phillies game...let's hope they have a better game tonight!! GO PHILLIES!!!