Chicken Marsala

Italy is one of my favorite places and so I goes without saying that I also love it's cuisine.

My mom and I were fortunate enough to travel to Italy and fell in love with the people, the country, and it's food.  We spent 5 wonderful days in Rome, wandering the streets, shopping, site seeing, and eating!  I can't begin to describe the feeling of being in a city that has so much history.  To be able to stand where the ancient Romans stood, to walk where they did, and to dream of another era, but also to be able to see their achievements in monuments, and ruins, that decorate this magical city.  We did a lot of walking...I mean A LOT of WALKING!

Which made us work up an appetite!  We had made quick friends with a local restaurant owner and would visit him nightly for the special dinner he would have prepared for us.  Each day was something different, not from a menu, but made special.  Oh...the risotto...to die for!  And every meal ended with a Baci or kiss!  Such good memories of our time there. 

One dish I adore, and my mom does as well, is Chicken Marsala.  There is something special about the flavors in this dish.  The wine and the cream marry so well and turn out a delicate but full of flavor sauce that tops a simple chicken and mushroom dish.  

The technique is simple, by sauteing chicken and then creating a pan sauce.  Deglazing the pan is important step so that you pull up the little brown bits (fond) that are in the bottom of the skillet, which lends great flavor to the sauce.  To really get good brown bits use a stainless steel pan which allows for a little sticking in the pan.  

Kitchen Tip:  Pound chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4" thickness if desired.  This will reduce the cooking time for the chicken by several minutes.

Here's my ode to Rome and my take on Chicken Marsala.  I hope you enjoy it.

Some step by step pics.

 stainless steel pan

 

  See the brown bits?

 

scrape up the brown bits...

add the cream

Heaven in a pan!!!

Chicken Marsala

serves 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 c flour

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 pound sliced button mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup Marsala wine

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.  Add flour to a pan for coating.  Take each piece of chicken and dredge it in the flour, shaking off any excess.  In a large skillet, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side (4-5 minutes for thin breasts)  Remove and keep warm.  (refer to Kitchen Tip above for pounded chicken breasts.

In the same skillet, saute mushrooms in remaining oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add wine, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by a third. Stir in cream.  Return to a boil; cook until slightly thickened.

Return chicken to pan and cook to warm through spooning sauce on top of chicken.  Garnish with parsley. 

Memorial Day Menu

It's almost Memorial Day Weekend!

Traditionally, celebrated in memoriam of the fallen soldiers in our Armed Forces, more unofficially the start of the summer season.


What better way to celebrate than with my All American Cookout menu.  It's filled with different options to create a wonderful meal the whole family would love.

Hope you enjoy your weekend and make some memories to look back upon!

All American Cookout Menu

Main Course:

    Southwestern Chicken Salad

    Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

Side Dishes:

    Grilled Greek Potato Salad

    Grilled Asparagas

Drinks:

    Orange Iced Tea

Dessert:

    Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Southwestern Chicken Salad

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

Grilled Greek Potato Salad

Grilled Asparagus

Orange Iced Tea

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Vermont Cheddar Popcorn

I'm in love with popcorn!

Popcorn has always been one of my favorite snacks.  I mean what's not to love??  It's light, fluffy texture, and it's tasty goodness.  It even smells like Disneyland to me!!  Can't get much better than that!


So I pop it often as a snack.  We like to watch movies and eat popcorn.  But to tell you the truth I like it whenever...even cold!  I think it runs in the family, I've seen them all eating their share of popcorn too!


This is a quick, simple recipe.  But don't let that surprise you, it oh soooo good!


Vermont Cheddar Popcorn combines your favorite popcorn with the cheesy goodness of  cheddar.  The cheddar I used is from King Arthur Flour and it called Vermont Cheese Powder.  You can find it here.  If you recall, this is the same cheese I used to make my stovetop Macaroni and Cheese.  This product is excellent.  Make sure to pick so up.  There are so many uses for it!  This recipe is super simple to assemble, and the flavor?  Outstanding!

Let's make popcorn!

Vermont Cheddar Popcorn

6 cups of popped popcorn

3-4 T of melted butter

2 T. Vermont Cheese Powder (or more to taste)

Drizzle the melted butter over the popcorn, mixing to distribute evenly.  Sprinkle with cheese powder and mix well.  Serve!