Chef Boy I Be Illinois Chicken Marsala Food

CHEF JOHN'S CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Season chicken breasts all over with salt and pepper.
• Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts, skin-side down, in hot butter and oil until browned, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook until breasts are almost cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Transfer chicken breasts to a plate.
• Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Saute mushrooms with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper in hot butter until mushrooms are golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add minced shallot; cook and stir until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the top and cook and stir until the bitterness of the flour cooks off, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour wine into skillet and bring to a boil; cook and stir until wine reduces and sauce thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chicken stock; bring to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, 3 to 5 minutes more.
• Return chicken breasts to the skillet, reduce heat to low, and cook chicken, turning once, until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 10 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove from heat.
• Move chicken to one side of the skillet and tilt the skillet so that the sauce pools at the bottom. Stir parsley and 1 teaspoon cold butter into the sauce, stirring constantly, until sauce is shiny and butter is completely melted. Transfer chicken breasts to plates and spoon mushrooms and sauce over the top.

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.

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

Steps:

• Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour, shaking off excess. Heat a 12- to 14-inch nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and brown each side of the chicken until golden brown, 2 minutes a side (you want to actually undercook the chicken a bit; it will finish in the pan later). Transfer the chicken to a plate.
• To the same pan, add the cremini mushrooms, butter, dried porcini and shallots and cook until deeply caramelized, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the gelatin and 1/4 cup of the broth together and let sit to bloom.
• Add the garlic to the pan and cook for another 20 seconds. Deglaze with the Marsala, scraping up any bits. Whisk in the remaining broth and the gelatin mixture and bring to a simmer. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Nestle the browned chicken in the pan and gently simmer for 3 minutes. Top with the fresh parsley and lemon juice. Serve with warm crusty Italian bread.

CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Add the flour to a shallow plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken pieces with the flour and tap off any excess.
• Set a 12-inch cast-iron pan over medium heat, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and heat until hot. Add the chicken in batches and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until browned. Keep warm, covered, on a serving plate.
• Add about 1 tablespoon more oil to the pan, add the garlic, shallot and mushrooms and saute for about 1 minute. Add the prosciutto, thyme and half of the parsley and cook 1 more minute. Add the Marsala to the pan and deglaze, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Cook until the wine is reduced by about three-quarters, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and cook until the sauce is heated through and thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter one piece at a time. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with the remaining parsley. Serve with warm buttered fettuccine.

CHEF BOY-I-BE-ILLINOIS' CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• Pound the chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness, salt and pepper to taste.
• Brown in olive oil over medium high heat.
• After turning breasts over, add pancetta and oregano to pan while breast brown on other side.
• Add marsala wine, tomato paste and mushroom and allow sauce to reduce by one half.
• Scoop some of the mushrooms over each breast and top with a slice of provolone cheese.
• Cover skillet just until cheese melts.
• Serve by pouring marsala sauce over the breasts.

CHICKEN MARSALA

Steps:

• To prepare the chicken, season the flour with salt and pepper. Slice the chicken breasts to 1/4-inch-thick medallions. Coat with the flour and tap off any excess.
• Next, in a saucepan over medium heat, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and allow to warm. After warming, add the chicken and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and repeat the process. After cooking all the chicken, hold warm covered on a plate. Add the marsala to the pan over medium-high heat. This will deglaze the pan. After deglazing, reduce the wine by three-fourths volume so 2 ounces remain. Then add the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms, scraping the sides, then finish with the veal stock. Allow the stock to warm and thicken for 4 to 5 minutes, and then remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and finish by spooning over the cooked chicken. Garnish with fresh herbs or cheese if desired.

CHEF-BOY-I-BE-ILLINOIS' BAKED CHICKEN PARMESAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Whisk together the sour cream, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce and anchovy paste in a wide, shallow bowl (a pie plate works perfectly). The mixture will be quite thick, but that helps it adhere to the chicken and for the crumbs to adhere as well.
• Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and oregano in another wide shallow bowl.
• Season both sides of breasts with remaining salt and pepper.
• Coat both sides of each breast first in the sour cream mixture, then in the bread crumb mixture.
• Place on a wire rack that is over a foil lined baking sheet that will accommodate the size of your rack.
• Spray both sides of each breast with olive oil cooking spray.
• Bake for 30 minutes at 450F until coating is nicely browned, then turn down to 400F and continue baking for approximately 30 minutes until a meat thermometer registers 165°F.
• You can use the time your chicken is baking to make some polenta to go along with it, and maybe some nice cauliflower gratin Recipe #360354.

CHEF-BOY-I-BE-ILLINOIS' SIMPLE PASTA SAUCE

Steps:

• Saute onions, garlic, black pepper and red pepper flakes in oil until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 25-30 minutes uncovered.
• Serve over your favorite pasta, chicken parmigiana, stuffed pasta shells, etc.

CHEF-BOY-I-BE ILLINOIS' SAUCY CHICKEN CUTLETS

Steps:

• Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.
• Brown on both sides in olive oil.
• Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes for flavors to meld.
• Remove cutlets to warm serving tray.
• Add 2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/2 cup water to mixture in pan to thicken. Add slowly and allow to thicken. Add only as much to thicken to your taste.
• Serve the sauce over the breasts and rice, potatoes, or noodles.
• Enjoy!