bsdzine's "chicken merlot to die for"

[bsdzine]

it's kinda like a chicken marsala recipe, only with a few things substituted... i make this alot as i usually have all the ingredients around the apt.

 

this recipe will feed 4 exactly. once you make it once, you'll realize that you can substitute certain things and the measurements are just a figure.

 

what you need: (oh yea i don't measure things, so i'll try to guess how much, usually just using your eye works)

 

- 4 decent sized chicken breast pieces (more if people are hungry)

- 1 egg

- 1/2 cup chopped green onion (yellow works too...) you can add more onion if you like onions, i usually add a full chopped onion (which is about 1.5 cups depending on the size)

- 2 cups sliced white mushrooms (i am a shroom addict, so i add about a full package bought at the store which is about 3.5 cups i think)

- 1 large diced RIPE tomato - first cut in half, then over a sink squeeze out all the seeds and juice, we only want the flesh, not the juices/seeds.

- 3/4 cup merlot - any merlot will do

- 1/2 cup chicken stock/chicken broth

- ~ 1 cup all-purpose flour

- 1 tsp dried marjoram

- 3 tbs butter/margarine

- salt and pepper

- keep some extra flour handy as well..

- cooked pasta, enough for 4. you can use linguini but i think this works best with small, fat pastas, like a bow-tie. just personal preference really.

- OPTIONAL - a few fresh berries and a bottle of shiraz (strawberries and raspberries are a good combo, but you can always do blackberries, blueberries etc whatever you can find fresh)

 

Let's begin! Oh before we start, don't cut your veggies on the same cutting board as your chicken, and use different knives, duh. always wash your hands after handing raw chicken. it's good practice to have a "meat" board, and a "veggie" board, if you only have 1 cutting board, use it for the chicken and cut your veggies on a plate.

 

1. In a shallow bowl, mix marjoram, pinch of salt and pinch of pepper (bout 1/8 tsp S&P) and flour. In a bowl next to that, crack open egg and whip it up till the yoke and whites are nice and mixed.

Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using a mallet (in my case, my fist) and beat up your chicken till it is about 1/4" thick. Do this for each piece of chicken. Cut up your flattened chicken into small "chicken fingers" pieces and SCORE the chicken (this is key to soak up all that flavor later down the line). Coat each little piece of chicken with the egg, then bread it in the flour/marjoram mix we already made. Place the breaded pieces to the side for the moment.

 

2. In a decent sized skillet (i think mine is 12" i believe), melt 1 tbs of butter and toss in the diced tomato, chopped onions, and sliced mushrooms in MED-HIGH heat and cook until tender (should be a few minutues, depends on if you added extra onions/mushrooms to your mix). once tender, transfer your veggies out of skillet and onto a plate, set aside for the moment.

In the SAME skillet, add remaining 2 tbs of butter and toss in your chicken that we set aside during prep, cook about 5-6 mins (if you flattened them correctly) turning to brown evenly.

 

3. with the BROWNED chicken in skillet, remove from heat and add the tender veggies we just cooked back into the mixture. Add merlot and chicken stock/broth to the mixture. The trick here is to make sure the broth/merlot is enough to cover your chicken and veggies. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, keep UNCOVERED.

 

4. Simmer for 5 minutes. This is where you can play with your mixture. Since I add more mushrooms than needed, i usually put in a little extra merlot/stock to the mix. Try to keep the mix of merlot/stock equal, if you add merlot add some stock. TOO MUCH MERLOT WITHOUT ADDING ENOUGH CHICKEN STOCK WILL F THIS UP! (when it's simmering, i usually taste it every 2-3 mins to make sure it's nice and flavorful) If your sauce is too runny after 5 minutes, add some flour to thicken it. (the sauce should not be too thick, it should be mildly runny, however, if you can see the wine over the chicken stock, add flour and stock to thicken). You may also add salt/pepper if desired to further season the sauce. Depending on how hungry you are, and how much time you have, your food is ready to eat after 5 minutes of simmering. HOWEVER, to really let the mushrooms and chicken be slammin' with flavor, I like to let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes - while simmering, clean up your mess, and pour your guests a glass of RED wine. A good cab sav is best, however, if you got a bottle of merlot to make this, might as well drink the rest! (stay away from shiraz as it's too sweet to drink with this recipe)

 

5. During the previous steps, you should also be cooking up some pasta of your choice, i don't need to explain to you how to cook pasta do I? Anyways, take your 4 serving plates, plate with pasta. while the chicken merlot mix is still simmer, scoop out a good mix of chicken/onions/mushrooms (the tomatoes by now should be almost diminished) and plate over the cooked pasta. Get a big ol' spoon and scoop out some of the sauce as well to make sure everyones pasta and chicken got some sauce all over it.

 

6. OPTIONAL - Once finished stuffing your faces, keep your guests sitting at the table, have them finish their glasses of wine and take them away along with their cleaned plates (trust me, their plates will be clean, you can't F up this recipe unless you try to F it up). Drop in a few berries into their used wine glass (you can use new clean glasses, but it doesn't matter) and fill with shiraz. You may also add a pinch of sugar if you used frozen berries, but good fresh berries should have enough sweet in them to go w/o sugar. Bring back the filled glasses to the table, and sit around for an hour digesting and chatting while drinking your pimp dessert.

 

Enjoy! I think this is a great recipe as you can tailor it to your liking. If 3 out of the 4 people eating aren't the biggest fans of onions, only add half the amount of onions and substitute in a green pepper. If your not a big 'shroom person, don't worry, only use the min amount recommended, the mushrooms will soak in the chicken stock and merlot and lose their shroomy flavor while being infused with merlot goodness. Once you make this once, you'll realize how the measurements are just an estimate. I sometimes make this for just myself in a small 8" skillet.

[dvdt]

Nice... I'm going to have to try this one. Including the "pimp" dessert.

[bsdzine]

you could also substitute the shiraz for a semi-sweet white, but i don't like to mix colors, especially if i had a red during dinner.

 

ps - higher elevations add a few more mins to the simmer

[Guest heightsgtltd]

gonna try this