The Best Chicken in Wine Sauce
November 07, 2017
Chicken in Wine Sauce
This creamy but flavoursome dish of boneless chicken breasts, in a mushroom-laden, fortified wine and chicken stock-based sauce is a take on ‘chicken marsala’. Marsala is an Italian fortified wine, but any brandy-fortified wine will do.
- 4 Skinless chicken breasts (Also boneless, of course!)
- 1 Cup Button mushroom slices
- 1/2 Cup Fortified wine of choice
- 1/4 Cup chicken stock/ broth, preferably homemade
- 1/4 Cup Heavy/ thick cream
- 1/4 Cup Cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 Tbsp Dry oregano
- 1/2 Tbsp Garlic salt
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp Butter
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- Finely chopped parsley, to garnish
- Garlic mashed potatoes or boiled farfalle (to Serve)
Sift together the flour, garlic salt, common salt and pepper into a bowl. This would ensure that the seasoning has mixed uniformly with the flour. Go easy on the common/ table salt as garlic salt is being used too.
A chicken breast is thicker on one side, and thinner on the other. By the time the thickest portion of the breast has fully cooked, the thin side is usually dry. To avoid this issue, slice each chicken breast into two, horizontally, and you’ll get even pieces.
Take half the butter and all the olive oil in a large frying pan and place on a low heat. Once the butter has completely melted, place the chicken pieces and increase the heat to medium. You may not be able to accommodate all the pieces of chicken in one go and may need to do this in batches. Allow the pieces to fry for 2-3 minutes.
Check the chicken piece in the middle of the pan for a nice brown sear. If it has formed a brown crust, flip it over. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Remove to a plate once browned on both sides.
Add the remaining butter to the same pan and reduce the heat to low. The pan may have some chicken residue – don’t worry, it will be deglazed with the wine soon enough. For now, tip in the mushrooms and season with salt & pepper. The salt would lead to mushrooms leaving their water rather quickly.
Now increase the heat to medium and cook till the mushrooms are nice and brown. Then, pour in the wine and the flavoursome broth. You have to reduce the heat to low and simmer for five minutes. Then, put the chicken back in the pan, pour in the cream, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until heated through. Sprinkle plenty of finely chopped parsley, and serve on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes or a short size pasta, like farfalle.
1. Wipe and lightly scrub mushrooms with a cloth or damp paper towel before slicing. Never wash mushrooms as they are like sponges and absorb a lot of water.
2. Not only would the olive oil add a whole dimension of flavour to the preparation, it would also prevent the butter from burning.
