dusting off the cobwebs

I remembered a recipe that I had that was made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and wild rice. If I have one chicken recipe, I have dozens. I can’t recall who gave me this recipe or where I found it. When I dug it out of  my recipe box, I forgot that it was called Chicken Marsala. 

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This  recipe is made as a casserole with wild rice. Secondly, the recipe calls for sautéing sliced mushrooms and chopped onions. For the preparation last night, I omitted the onions and mushrooms, but have made it in the past with just sliced mushrooms. Two other ingredients in this recipe are chicken stock and heavy cream. 

You begin by preparing Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice per the box instructions. When the wild rice was almost done, I added the two tablespoons of heavy cream to the rice. I was afraid that if I added it to the Marsala wine/chicken stock mixture, the sauce might break. Next, I lightly dredged the bite size chicken pieces in flour that was seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder. The chicken pieces are sautéed in a combination of butter and olive oil. 
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Once all your all your ingredients are prepared, next you’ll need to assemble the casserole. First down is a  layer of wild rice, followed by a layer of chicken, lastly, the chicken stock/Marsala wine is poured over the mixture. The casserole is baked uncovered for approximately 25-30 minutes, depending on the quantity of chicken in the dish. I made approximately one pound of chicken and baked it for approximately 25 minutes.

The dish came out as I remembered. The chicken pieces were moist and tender and the rice was creamy from the small addition of heavy cream and chicken stock. The Marsala wine came through with subtle notes. It was a wonderful meal on a chilly evening. I served this dish with a side salad, but you could certainly add a nice green vegetable to round out the dish. It’s a good do head dish and would work well as a weeknight meal. Dinner can be on the table in about an hour. 

Williams-Sonoma currently has on sale their organic stock concentrates for chicken, grass fed beef and vegetable for $15.96, regularly $19.95. Also on sale are their cooking sauces, buy two and get 20% off any two cooking sauces. 

Chicken Marsala

1-2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
1 box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced 
1 large onion, diced
1/4-1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste Garlic powder, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock

Cook a box of Uncle Ben’s Wild rice per box directions. When done, add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and stir. Remove from heat. Coat cutlets in a mixture of flour seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder Brown the cutlets in a combination of 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Remove to a plate, cover to keep warm.

Add balance of butter and oil to same pan as chicken and sauté vegetables. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of Marsala wine and 1 cup chicken broth; remove from heat. In a 13”x9” baking dish, put down a layer of wild rice, followed by a layer of chicken and top with mushroom/onion combination. Pour sauce over and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Note: this recipe does not have specific quantities for the flour, salt, pepper or garlic, therefore, the amounts I have are estimated quantities of what I used for approximately 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.