Chicken Marsala and Reflections on Five Years

Five years. It has been just over five years since the day we took our wedding vows. Five years since the greatest party of our life. Five years since the last time almost all of our dearest friends and family were together in one room. It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years because FIVE YEARS seems like such a long time, but it also feels like the wedding was just a few months ago.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot on what marriage means to me and all that it stands for. Marriage is definitely not some fairytale shown in the movies or storybooks. (It’s also thankfully not a constant battleground like some marriages are depicted in said movies.) I know it sounds cliché, but I believe marriage truly is a partnership – a partnership built upon friendship, mutual respect, and most importantly love. Not every moment is going to be thrilling and exciting. In fact, some of my favorite moments are the quiet ones spent together sipping coffee (or wine…) on the couch or in the backyard. Over these past five years, we have experienced a wide variety of ups and downs. We’ve been there to support each other through work successes and disappointments. We’ve seen many joyous occasions with family and friends, and we’ve also experienced extreme loss and sadness. We’ve been blessed with incredible vacations and trips and, like many couples, have also battled through unexpected financial struggles. A lot has happened in five years – a lot of good and a lot of not so good – but through it all we’ve been there for each other every step of the way. Some steps were easy to take together and some steps were more challenging, but the most important thing is that we took them as a team.

We were both well aware of each other’s flaws and strengths before getting married (living together in advance will help teach that), but I have still learned many things about my dear husband and about myself in the years following the ceremony. I won’t list everything I’ve learned here, but I am happy to say that Rob still constantly inspires me and makes me proud to be his wife every day. He is still the funniest person I’ve ever met; in fact, there are few people in this world who can get me to make that deep belly laugh the way he does on a regular basis. Going into marriage, I was never naïve enough to think every day was going to be amazing and that frustrations would be non-existent, but I’m very happy to report that the balance of amazing days far exceeds the latter. Ultimately, I think that favorable balance is because he’s not just my husband, but also my best friend.

Since we typically don’t exchange gifts for our anniversary, we decided to spring for an “experience” instead.  It was fate that one of my FAVORITE musicians, Billy Joel, just happened to be playing at AT&T Park on our actual anniversary.  The concert was amazing and I am so happy to have been able to share it with my favorite person in the whole world.

 

 

 

OK – enough with the mushiness and on with the food!  In honor our anniversary, I wanted to make Rob’s favorite meal I have hiding in my culinary repertoire. That meal is Chicken Marsala. Now, this isn’t your typical Chicken Marsala. The sauce has a little cream, a burst of sage, and I actually chop up the mushrooms since hubby does not care for the texture of mushroom slices. These changes create a unique dish that is still full of the comforting flavor you’ve come to expect from Chicken Marsala.

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do and I sincerely hope you can share it with your loved ones. I call this a special occasion dinner because it’s not the fastest to prepare and it dirties a LOT of dishes. I am not the tidiest of cooks on a regular day in general, but my kitchen looks like a bomb went off after making the Marsala. These reasons are why I feel this meal is one to share with those you care about and why I feel it is always meant to be made with love.

 

Chicken Marsala – adapted from Paul Grimes’ recipe on Epicurious.com

 

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken stock

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)

10 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped

8 ounces oyster mushrooms, cleaned, cut off the large stem and coarsely chopped

10 sage leaves, finely chopped

1 cup flour

2 large or 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¾ cup dry marsala wine, plus 2 Tablespoons

1 cup heavy cream

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

½ pound dry linguine pasta

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Boil chicken stock uncovered in a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan for approximately 20 minutes. (This should reduce down to about 2 cups of liquid.) On a separate burner, bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil. (You will use this to cook your pasta later.) You can get both of these started while you prep the rest of your ingredients.

Dry your chicken with a paper towel and place one breast between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet (the flat side, not the bumpy side) or a rolling pin, pound your chicken until it is about ¼ inch thick. If you are using 2 large pieces of chicken instead of 4 smaller pieces, slice the flattened piece in half after pounding it thin so that you have 4 pieces of chicken total. (If your chicken splits into a few pieces due to uneven pounding pressure, don’t fret! They will still cook-up fine and it doesn’t detract from the final result at all!) Set the prepared meat aside for now.

Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a 12” skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally with a spatula, approximately 1 minute until it starts to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, stirring regularly. Make sure the shallot and garlic do not start to burn. Add the chopped mushrooms and half of the sage. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until all of the liquid released by the mushrooms has cooked off (approximately 5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and pour the mushroom mix into the pot with the chicken stock.

 

Pour your flour into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle your chicken pieces with a little salt and pepper and then dredge them in the flour. Set aside. Return the skillet you used to cook the mushrooms to the burner and heat over medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and one tablespoon of butter. Stir it once the butter has melted and the pan is hot. Place 2 chicken pieces in the pan and cook until golden brown on the bottom (approximately 3 minutes). Flip the chicken pieces and cook until golden and just cooked through. Place the cooked chicken on a foil lined cookie sheet and place in your preheated oven to keep warm. Carefully wipe out the skillet with a paper towel if the remnants of the chicken are starting to burn. Add the other tablespoon of oil and butter to the pan and repeat the process with the remaining chicken pieces. Place the final cooked pieces of chicken on the cookie sheet in oven to keep warm.

At this time, the water you will use to cook the pasta should be at a rolling boil. Add your pasta and cook to al dente according to your package instructions. Continue with the recipe as you wait for the pasta to cook. When the pasta is at al dente, reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid when you drain and set both the pasta and the liquid aside.

After the chicken is cooked and warming in the oven and while you are cooking your pasta, melt 2 additional tablespoons of butter in the skillet you used to cook the chicken. Add approximately 3 tablespoons of flour to the melted butter and whisk thoroughly to incorporate the two and make a thick, paste-like consistency. Cook your roux for about a minute until it starts to brown. Pour in ¾ of a cup Marsala and whisk well to incorporate the roux and scrape off any browned bits from the bottom and sides of the pan. (You don’t want any flour lumps.) After most of the Marsala has boiled off and all of the brown bits have been loosened, pour in the cream and whisk well. Now add the chicken broth/mushroom mixture and whisk to thoroughly incorporate all of the liquids. Lower the temperature to medium low and allow the sauce to come to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Once your sauce has thickened to the point where it coats the back of a wooden spoon (approximately 8 minutes for me), turn off the heat and add a squeeze of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of Marsala, approximately 1 tablespoon of the reserved cooking liquid, and the remaining chopped sage, stirring well. If the sauce is too thick, add more of the reserved cooking liquid. If it’s too thin, return to a boil and cook to desired consistency.

Gently place the cooked chicken into the sauce and flip to coat both sides. Divide your drained pasta between 4 plates and arrange a chicken piece on top of each one. Generously ladle the Marsala and mushroom sauce over the chicken and pasta. Garnish with a tiny sprinkle of chopped sage and some freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!