Chicken Marsala with Creamy Polenta
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CHICKEN MARSALA
▪4 8oz/225g chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
▪Salt
▪650g or 2 3/4c marsala wine + additional for deglazing
▪350g or 1 1/2c chicken stock + additional to loosen sauce
▪2 packets of powdered gelatin (14-15g total)
▪30g or 1c dried mushroom (i recommend shiitake or porcini)
▪About a cup of flour (gluten free blends work great too)
▪Olive oil
▪1lb or 1/2kg baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
▪100g/3.5oz thick cut pancetta or bacon, diced
▪100g or ½ a large onion or shallot, small diced
▪15g or 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
▪15g or 1Tbsp tomato paste
▪1g or 1tsp dried oregano
▪20g or 1 1/2Tbsp worcestershire
▪50g or 4Tbsp cold unsalted butter
▪Chopped parsley (a Tbsp/5g or so)
Cut each chicken breast in half, tip to tip (to create 8 pieces of chicken).
1. Place chicken in a bag (or use something to keep chicken juice from splattering everywhere).
2. pound them into a uniform thickness. I use a heavy sauce pot for this.
3. Salt both sides of chicken pieces generously and allow them to sit to dry brine for 10-15 minutes.
4. While the chicken brines, add marsala & stock to a saucepan then whisk in gelatin.
5. To that, and dried mushrooms. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce heat to medium to reduce liquid by about 50-60% - this should take about 20 minutes. Now’s a good time to start your polenta if you’re making it (recipe below)
6. Strain the dried mushrooms out of the marsala/mushroom stock liquid through a mesh strainer, pressing the mushrooms to get as much liquid out as possible. Discard mushrooms, set aside the remaining liquid for later.
7. Back to the chicken. Place the flour on a plate or tray and lightly dredge both sides of chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess flour. When all cutlets are dusted, preheat a large (12”) saute pan over medium high.
8. Add a generous squeeze of olive oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan, then carefully load in 4 of the chicken cutlets. After about 2 minutes, flip chicken and cook for another minute until just golden brown. Transfer to a tray and cook the rest of the chicken as you did the first batch. Transfer second batch of chicken to the tray with the first batch.
9. Return the pan to medium high heat, add another squeeze of oil, the sliced bella mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Saute for 4-6 minutes or until mushrooms have lost their water, are fully tender, and have taken on a nice brown color. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl.
10. Return the pan back to medium high and add bacon. When it has started to take on brown color and is crisping, transfer bacon to the bowl with the mushrooms using a slotted spoon to leave behind the fat. You’re looking for a light coating of bacon fat left in the pan. If there’s a lot more than that, drain some of it off before continuing.
11. Return the pan with the bacon fat to medium high heat and add onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened and beginning to caramelize.
12. Add in garlic, tomato paste, and oregano. Stir to combine and fry until the garlic is just fragrant and tomato paste has taken on a darker rust color.
13. Add a nice glug of marsala and the worcestershire to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits that have stuck to the pan.
14. When the marsala has reduced and is glazing the pan, add in the strained marsala mushroom stock and bring to a simmer.
15. When liquid is simmering, add all of the cooked chicken cutlets back into the pan to rewarm them and saturate them with sauce use a spoon to baste chicken with the sauce for about a minute.
16. Transfer chicken out of pan and into an oven safe dish to keep warm in the oven until you’re ready to serve, keeping as much sauce as possible in the saute pan.
17. You should notice that the sauce has thickened when you return it to heat. Running a spatula through it should leave a subtle trail. At this point, add cooked bacon and mushrooms to the pan sauce along with another splash of stock.
18. Turn off heat, add butter, and swirl to emulsify.
19. Add chopped parsley to finish sauce.
20. Drizzle warmed chicken cutlets with a generous portion of the marsala mushroom sauce and serve over warm polenta and garnish with additional sauce.
POLENTA
▪300g or 1 1/2c polenta
▪1000-1200g/35-40oz chicken stock (about 1.5 boxes)
▪7g or 1 1/2tsp salt
▪125g or 9Tbsp butter
▪100g or 1c parmesan, grated
1.Dry toast polenta in a pan over high heat for about 2 minutes, shaking/stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
2. When polenta smells like corn and has taken on a light toast, add 800g/1 box of chicken stock and salt and whisk.
3. When the mixture becomes thick, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring about every minute with a wooden spoon. Be sure to scrape the bottom as you stir to prevent burning on the bottom.
4. Cover polenta and remove from heat to allow to continue to hydrate while you finish the Chicken marsala.
5. After hydrating and cooling, the polenta should have thickened up a LOT. When you’re ready to serve it, return polenta to medium heat and add another 200-400g (½ box) of chicken stock - as much as needed to loosen the polenta into a stirrable consistency.
6. Reduce heat to low. Stir in butter, then parmesan. The consistency should be similar to creamy mashed potatoes.
