Chicken Marsala with Creamy Polenta

hey what's up I love chicken marsala not just because it's delicious but also because it's one of those recipes that's very enjoyable to make you're sauteing you're reducing you're making sauce all of the stuff that's fun and Technical but not very difficult today I'm going to show you how to make it at home along with a buttery Rich parmesan polenta to serve it on to get started I'll need some chicken specifically I've got four eight ounce chicken breasts here and to get them prepped up for the marsala sauce I'll need to make them into eight thin cutlets for that I'll grab a breast and cut it tip to tip in half that'll give me two skinny four ounces and then to make them into thin cutlets I'll grab a freezer bag and a heavy bottom saucepan and pound them flat pound firmly but gently here you don't want to beat up these breasts too hard because that will tear them up I usually go with about 20 medium pressure slaps and there we go a thin flat cutlet and once I've got all eight breasts flattened I'll hit both sides with a generous dose of salt this salt is going to sit on the meat for a minute while we sort out the the knife work and start our side dish so in effect it's going to be dry brining the Chicken dry brining helps the meat hold on to its water while cooking making it much juicier next I'll set these breasts off to the side for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I'll grab a saucepan for the sauce into that I'll combine 650 grams of Marsala wine 350 grams of chicken stock then two packets of powdered gelatin or about 15 grams this gelatin is going to help bring some grippy viscosity to the sauce without us having to thicken it with cornstarch or flour both of those tend to mute the flavor of a sauce and make it overly thick lastly I'll add in 30 grams of dried mushrooms I'm using shiitake but porcinis would also be a good option then I'll bring this pot over to the stove and bring it to a hard boil once I'm there I'll lower the heat to medium and both reduce the liquid by 50 to 60 percent and Infuse it with a deep mushroomy flavor that'll take about 20 minutes in the meantime I'm gonna get started on my side of Parmesan plenta for that into a medium saucepan I'll add 300 grams of polenta not cornmeal or grits polenta Cooks much more evenly and quicker than either of those next I'll drop this saucepan over high heat and dry toast the polenta to bring an additional level of flavor that'll take about two minutes of nearly constant stirring to prevent scorching and once it's got the aroma of fresh popcorn and is taken on a light toasty color like this I'll add in one whole box of store-bought chicken stock that's about 800 grams worth then in goes 7 grams of salt and I'll whisk this to combine as this polenta comes up to a simmer it will thicken rapidly and get dangerously hot and ploppy this can make a literal hot mess all over your stove so once it's thickened it's time to lower the heat to medium low and cook for 5-10 minutes stirring every minute when you stir make sure to do so with a wooden spoon and scrape up the bottom because polenta can get a little grippy and form a skin and after five to ten minutes the polenta grains are swollen up and just about fully hydrated stone ground grits would take at least 45 to an hour to reach this point actually this polenta feels really good in the mouth but it's still need a little bit more softening so I'll pop a lid on and move this off heat to continue to hydrate while I cook everything else on the other side of the stove this reduction is looking really good we've boiled off about 60 percent of the volume and cooked off all of the alcohol now we've got a sweet Savory mushroomy base for our sauce next I'll strain off the liquid through a fine mesh strainer then I'll put a squeeze on the mushrooms to extract as much of that boiled down liquid as possible also if you're wondering what to do with those leftover mushrooms nothing they're void of flavor and texturally they're a nightmare next I'll set aside this reduction then grab a plate and drop about one Cup's worth of all-purpose flour into the middle from there I'll grab my dry brined chicken cutlets and dredge them one at a time I want whatever flour naturally sticks I'll actually shake off anything excessive here because too much flour will lead to a soggy cutlet with a gummy slash mushy exterior and if you're wondering hey Bry why are we dredging these in the first place great question number one coating these with flour helps keep them from drying out in the the direct heat of a frying pan breast meat can't take a direct sear without skin or something in between it and the pan and number two the browned flower crust will grip the sauce a lot better making for a more unified dish almost like Chinese food would now to make these dusted cutlets into chicken marsala I'll grab a 12 inch saute pan drop it on the stove and then quickly thank Gia for sponsoring this video after spending my youth being 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for viewers of this video headed drinkkia.com Brian and use code brian20 at checkout to get 20 off your first purchase once my pan is good and hot I'll add in a very generous squeeze of olive oil make sure it's evenly spread out in the pan by the way then I'll carefully load in four of my eight cutlets I'll sneak a little bit more oil in on the side here because I want to make sure these are sitting in a decent layer of fat so that they take on even Browning now since these are so thin they're gonna fry up super quickly maybe three to four minutes in total and after two minutes I'll come back and give the pan a little shimmy to make sure nothing got stuck then I'll flip these cutlets over one at a time and very quickly cook them on the back side for about one minute these cutlets are going to have a chance to cook a little bit more later on so don't go too hard on the back side here and dry them out cook them just until they're lightly golden brown next I'll move these cuties over to a little baby sheet tray to hang out while I cook the rest and make the sauce four more cutlets go into a hot pan with a generous dose of olive oil for about three to four minutes and then they'll get set aside with the first four my 12 inch pan goes back on medium high heat and I'll add in another squeezer of olive oil then one pound of sliced baby bella mushrooms and then a strong pinch of salt for the mushrooms I cut off any of the excessive stem then cut in half and slice those halves into a medium-ish thickness too thin and the mushrooms crumble down into the sauce and too thick they end up being spongy and take away from the beautiful texture of the chicken and after about a minute in a hot pan these mushrooms have released their water so I'll Sizzle that off and continue to saute for about four to five minutes or until the mushrooms are fully tender and have taken on some color most home Cooks do don't cook their mushrooms for long enough and in the end we're left with a spongy result that no one likes don't do that cook them hard cook them for longer than you think and you'll be left with a result that is tender full of color and dense with flavor these are looking great so I'll move them over to a bowl to hang out for a second while I keep on building the sauce it'll note that they should have cooked down to about one fourth of their original volume the pan is back on medium high heat now and next in goes 100 grams about three ounces of diced thick cut bacon because this dish is Italian most recipes will call for pancetta but pancetta requires me to take a very long trip across town to get and bacon especially thick cut tastes great so that's what I'm using and once the bacon is crisped up and has a nice reddish brown color like this I'm going to move it over to my mushroom Bowl using a slotted spoon to scoop out the bacon and leaf behind the fat I'll drain off about 75 percent of that fat and then drop the pan on the stove One Last Time first thing in is a hundred grams of very small diced onion or shallot I'll saute these onions for about one to two minutes or until they're softened and starting to take on some caramelization around the edges then in goes 15 grams of minced garlic 15 grams of tomato paste and one gram of dried oregano I'll give that a stir to combine and I'll fry everything until the garlic is fragrant and the tomato paste is Rusty like this now to loosen up those dark bits of caramelized onion and tomato paste stuck to the pan I'll add in a generous glug of a fresh Marsala wine and deglaze behind that in goes at 20 grams of worch and then I'll jump in and stir everything to scrape up the pan and about a minute later when the marsala is reduced until sticky and glazed in the pan yet again I'll add in all of my reduced marsala mushroom stock from before then I'll give this pan a quick scrape down and then bring the whole thing up to a simmer and once it's ripping I'm going to carefully snug up my chicken cutlets into the sauce to warm them through and more importantly to saturate the browned flour exterior with the sauce to do that I like to use a sturdy spoon and baste to bathe the breasts this step gives these cutlets their signature texture on the outside that like I said before is not that different from Chinese food the crust on the outside is velvety rich and soaked with the flavorful sauce but don't cook these in the pan for too long one minute is more than enough to get the job done here so I'm gonna move these over to a warm 9x13 baking dish to hang out and then I'll finish the sauce at this point the viscosity is looking perfect the bubbles are getting big and when I push my spat through it it leaves a subtle Trail like this so in goes all of my bacon and mushrooms and I'll stir to get those combined inevitably those mushrooms will soak up a little bit too much liquid and keep this sauce for being Saucy enough so I'll add in a few more splashes of stock here to loosen things up then in goes 50 grams of cold butter and I'll swirl to get that emulsified the marsala sauce by itself is pretty tart and almost too sweet without the butter and adding it in goes a long way in keeping things balanced lastly I'll add in a few pinches of chopped parsley fold that in and then there we go silky Rich marsala mushroom sauce to finish the cutlets I'll drizzle each one with a large spoonful of the mushroom and the bacon that'll make sure each cutlet is bathed in this Rich sauce Now to turn it into an entree we'll need to finish that polenta the first step there will be to heat this up and add some liquid to loosen it up again I'm adding in about two to four hundred grams of stock in total your polenta's thirstiness will differ quite a bit from mine so eyeball the liquid and add just as much as you need to get it back to a stirable consistency next in goes 125 grams of butter and I'll stir that in until it's melted and the polenta is a little bit looser then finally I'll add in 100 grams of grated Parmesan cheese and give that a stir over very low heat to gently melt it in the final texture should be silky smooth and similar to creamy smashed potatoes now to Plate this up I'll throw a rustic dollop of polenta on a plate then top that with one of my Saucy tender cutlets make sure to garnish with the reserved sauce and additional mushrooms and bacon you guys for anyone out there that genuinely enjoys the process of cooking this dish is for you it's got tons of different techniques and requires your full attention but it's not difficult to make it's perfect for a Sunday afternoon when you want to treat a few close friends to a very special meal the sauce is raisiny a touch sweet and it has a delicate balance between some fruity acidity and The Buttery bacon I hope you make it soon [Music] [Music] thank you

Channel: Brian Lagerstrom

Views: 215,305

Keywords: chicken marsala, chicken recipes, dinner recipes, marsala sauce, mushroom sauce, best chicken marsala, chicken marsala recipe, how to make chicken marsala, chicken marsala sauce, polenta, chicken marsala dinner, Brian lagerstrom, weeds and sardines, marsala recipe, dinner party recipes, italian food, cooking, recipes

Id: UEdNlnUuD3Q

Length: 11min 42sec (702 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 27 2023