We Ate That

We were craving a nice home cooked Italian meal.  We have eaten all kinds of pasta and chicken parm lately, but we were in the mood for something a little bit different.  Then we remembered we had an old recipe hidden some where in our files.  The recipe is actually just notes that were taken while watching our grandmother cook.  Unfortunately the notes were taken by another member of the family and were written in what could only be considered free form, so they took a bit of decoding and guessing to understand.  After a bit of studying we were able to figure out the recipe and our meal set.  We decide to plate the chicken marsala over pasta. 

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts about an inch thick (will be cut in half to create 8 pieces) add more if needed
• 1/4 cup of flour for gravy (extra for dredging)
• 1/4 cup Marsala Wine
• 3 cubes of chicken bullion
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Parsley 
• Water
• Oil

Directions:

Chicken

1. Cut chicken breasts in half creating pieces that are about 1/4 inch thick
2. Pound chicken breasts lightly to make them uniform in size
3. Pre-heat a pan with olive oil over medium heat, oil should be 1/8 inch deep 
4. Create a dredge for the chicken by adding flour to a bowl. Season with salt and pepper
5. Evenly coat chicken in flour and shake off the excess
6. Add chicken to the pan and turn the heat up so that the chicken is frying
7. Cook for about 5 minutes till golden brown, flip over and brown the other side
8. Place cooked chicken on a plate with a paper towel to drain and cool
9. Reserve cooking oil for gravy

Gravy

1. Take 1/4 cup of flour and add into a 1/2 cup of water
2. Mix thoroughly until it resembles milk
3. Add in 1/4 cup of Marsala wine
4. Pour mixture into the leftover cooking oil used to cook the chicken
5. Turn the heat on the pan to medium
6. Mix together and add 1/2 cup of water, mix until there are no lumps
7. Add 3 cubes of chicken bullion, mix until dissolved
8. If mixture is too thick add water until you reach desired consistency
9. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, whisking once or twice
10. On the side heat up 3 tablespoons of butter
11. Add 1/2 tsp of onion powder to the hot butter then add butter into the gravy
12. In a new pan, heat  a bit of butter on medium heat
13. Fill pan with chicken and add enough gravy to cover chicken
14. Add a splash of Marsala wine & parsley
15. Cook until chicken is warm and then serve either as is or over a side of pasta

Results:

No need to order out anymore for good chicken marsala with this recipe in hand.  If you are looking for home cooked chicken marsala like your grandmother used to make, look no further.  The chicken was lightly breaded and had a perfect crispy outside.  Pounding out the chicken allowed us to get cutlets that cooked quickly and evenly. The chicken was moist and retained all of its juices.  The sauce was exactly what you would get at a good Italian restaurant.  We were split on if the sauce was too think our not, but it is all personal preference and can be adjusted according.  If you prefer a thicker sauce this recipe should work just fine for you.  If you want a thinner sauce just add small amounts of water to the sauce until you get the consistency you desire.  That is the beauty of this recipe, there is so much flavor in the sauce that even when you add water it does not dilute any of the flavor.  

This was the perfect dish served over a bed of pasta.  We used some penne and topped it off with a bit of pecorino romano cheese.  This was the read deal dish and was very good.  In the future we may consider adding in mushroom to the sauce to give it some additional flavor.  This chicken could also be served sandwich style.  Get a nice fresh roll top it with the chicken cutlets and marsala sauce and finish it off with a slice of fresh mozzarella.  

Should Or Should Not Eat:

If you are craving homemade chicken marsala then you should try this recipe because it is a Should Eat.  This recipe comes from our grandmothers secret stash and you know those recipes are always good.  It even seems to retain some of the love she puts into it as well.  This has become one of our new favorite recipes and it may just become one of yours.