Chicken Marsala with incinerated new potatoes, ha!



Chicken Marsala with grill-roasted potatoes

 Yesterday afternoon  just before I left work, it occurred to me that I had mushrooms in the refrigerator that I needed to use, so I stopped by the grocery store on the way home, picked up some chicken tenders and threw together some Chicken Marsala.  I didn’t get home until after 6:00, so I wanted to put this meal together quickly.  I usually make risotto with anything a la Marsala, but it’s too time-consuming and labor intensive for a week night, and we didn’t have any homemade chicken broth in the freezer, so roasted potatoes would have to do.  I decided to try roasting the potatoes using my new-found grill roasting method, and if I had watched them more closely, they would have been perfect.  Alas, I didn’t and some of them were incinerated.  Nevertheless, enough were salvageable, and with some fresh broccoli, it was a passable Tuesday dinner.

For the Chicken Marsala:  Pat the chicken tenders dry with a paper towel and season them with salt and pepper.  Dredge them in flour, being sure to shake off any excess.  I’m crazy about the white whole wheat flour that’s become popular.  It’s a bit healthier, but it also browns more quickly without losing its thickening power.  Brown them in a pan on medium high heat in a couple of tablespoons of hot vegetable oil.  When they’re browned on both sides, put them in a warm (170 or so) oven while you make the sauce.  Sometimes I use pancetta in this recipe if I have it; yesterday I used some smoked pork jowl that I had left over from a pasta dish.  It adds just a little extra flavor to the dish, but it’s certainly not necessary.  After browning the pork and putting it on paper towels, I sautéed some fresh thinly sliced mushrooms on medium high heat, just until the mushroom liquid had been cooked out.  If you’re not using any pork, just sauté the mushrooms in a little butter.  You want them to be screeching when you put them in the pan so they’ll get a good roasted flavor.  Add a couple of tablespoons of minced shallot and cook until soft and translucent; add one finely minced toe of garlic and cook until just fragrant.  I threw in a half teaspoon of tomato paste at this point, but again, it’s not really necessary.  Add ¾ C of Marsala and be sure to scrape all the yummy bits off of the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat down to simmer and reduce the sauce until it’s velvety and slightly thickened.  Off heat, add a tablespoon of butter to finish the sauce and garnish with fresh parsley.  It’s a beautiful thing!