Chicken Marsala And Some Impromptu Advertising

Hey everybody! Sorry I've been MIA for the last two weeks, I've been really busy and I had a serious case of writers block. Seriously, I've been trying to write a post for the last week and just failed completely. While I was considering what to do about this case of writers block, I created this video! It's an impromptu ad for The College housewife. Send it around, tell your friends! For some reason, blogger won't let me put up a video, so here's the link until I get the video working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Ejhs4I90w&hl=en_GB&fs=1

You may have noticed that this video connects to The College Housewife Youtube page. That's right people. This blog now has a video channel. Which means that I finally have a way of putting up videos for you all! Check it out!

And now for food! This is something I made over winter break and it was a rousing success. This recipe for Chicken Marsala had been in my "try this stuff" folder for a really long time and I finally decided to make it for my family. Everybody loved it! The only thing I would do differently is to perhaps add more wine and butter to create a richer sauce. I was serving 7 people, and there wasn't quite enough sauce to go around. I also added a sliced onion because it seemed wrong to not have caramelized onions involved. So, if your in the mood for some fancy Italian food, try this out.

Chicken Marsala

Adapted from The Comfort of Cooking

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2-1 cup flour

salt and pepper

4 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 onion, sliced

2 cups white mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp tomato paste

1 1/2 cups marsala wine

Juice of 1 lemon

4 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

1 lb pasta, cooked and drained according to directions

Prepare chicken breasts by patting dry and dredging in flour, salt, and pepper. In a hot skillet, add about 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil and fry dredged chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and put in a warm oven.

In the same pan, fry the bacon (or pancetta if you're feeling fancy) until brown and crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate, then cook the onions in the bacon grease. If there's a lot of grease left over and it makes you uncomfortable to eat that much delicious fatty goodness, go ahead and take some out. Cook the onions until soft, then add the mushrooms. The mushrooms should cook until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. At this point, the onions will also start to caramelize. Add garlic, tomato paste, and cooked bacon and stir for one minute.

Then turn off the heat. I repeat. Turn. Off. The. Heat. I will not be responsible for singed eyebrows. Once the pan is off the heat, add the wine. Then turn the heat on high and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the delicious brown bits off of it. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until reduced by half. Then add the lemon juice and stir. Whisk in the butter 1 Tbsp at a time until the sauce is thickened. Serve mushrooms over pasta, then add a chicken cutlet and chopped parsley. Make sure to get plenty of sauce on there!

XOXO

Natalie