Easy (or not) Entertaining

Holiday time often brings us together to celebrate with friends and family.  This is great for everyone except the chef.  Cooking for 8 is very different than cooking for 4.  Even if you intend to make the same dish - increasing a recipe to feed twice as many people can be tricky business.[1]  I encourage you to think ahead when feeding the unwashed masses because its not as simple as you suspect.  This past week during the Hanukkah celebration we had a group of our closest [2] friends over.  In advance I asked my good friend Bob what he would like to eat and he said Chicken Marsala.  I was happy he asked for this having made a good version of this before.  What I didn't account for was that cooking twice as much required so many mushrooms they barely fit in the pan. Then I went to add twice the wine and chicken stock and it also barely fit in the pan. Finally, I normally cook the chicken+sauce in the oven for 5-10 min before serving and there was no way 14 pieces of chicken + 9 cups of mushrooms and sauce was going to fit.[3]  In a last minute save I decided to whip out another pan for the oven roasting and cook half of the total recipe in each.  

Normally Maddy would have helped more than she did but she was busy entertaining.

EMERIL'S CHICKEN MARSALA

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
• 2 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves and pounded thin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake)
• 3/4 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour and Essence [4] and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the chicken breast halves in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the pan and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid. Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Lower the heat to medium and return the chicken breasts to the pan and continue to cook until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.

Maddy did help with the slicing of mushrooms.  This is a good job to give a kid since they can use a butter knife and still feel like a big part of the process.

When you put your mushrooms in the pan make sure to stir well and get all the good stuff off the bottom of the pan.

Reduce, Reduce Reduce.  I typically let the wine then the stock reduce for longer than the recipe calls for.  The key is to concentrate those flavors into the mushrooms.

Use quality ingredients.  Buy actual Marsala wine - not some cooking wine from the grocery shelf.

----------------------------------------------

[1] It's tricky to rock a rhyme to rock a rhyme that's right on time its tricky.

[2] closest = people who will actually come over

[3] maybe what i need is a really big pan
[4] I do not use Emeril's essence.  I simply add salt, pepper and garlic powder to the flour