Recipe Review from 4/21/2019

Spring is gradually coming to the Northland, and with it the typical temperature swings.  We'll get one day of 60*, then 40* the next day.  Rain, sun, and snow flurries.  Ya just never know when running out the door in the morning.

And with spring brings the Season of Mud and the joy of cleaning off 8 puppy paws.   Fun times.

The Meal Plan:
Sat/Sun - Minicon
Mon (yoga/bkgrp/Legion) - out
Tues - Sheet pan salmon with potatoes
Wed - Chicken Marsala
Thurs (yoga)  leftovers
Fri - leftovers

I reviewed the Sheet Pan Salmon from Cooks Country here.   Yeah, this was good and easy enough to make again. Tho I had forgotten it does take about an hour from pulling ingredients out of the fridge to putting plates on the table.  Advantage: I can clean up dishes while final cooking happens.  Still recommended!


Chicken and Mushroom Marsala (Eating Well, Jan/Feb 2019)
I'm starting to sense a theme with the Eating Well recipes...bland.  Now I don't consider myself a "hot head" with the need to put Tabasco on everything, but I do expect my dishes to have some flavor.  The last several EW recipes I've made, all of them were bland, bland, bland.   Given the ingredient list below, with shiitake, onion, thyme and Marsala, this should have had some good flavor profiles, but I found myself reaching for the salt shaker partway through eating.

Other than that observation, I made this as written.  Mostly...I did butterfly the chicken breasts because I'm finding they cook so much better and more evenly when I do so. 

I served this with green beans - but this would be good over mashed potatoes or polenta.  Recommended with some small reservations.

photo from eatingwell.com

4 chicken breast cutlets (4 ounces each, about ½ inch thick), trimmed
½ teaspoon ground pepper, divided
¼ teaspoon kosher salt plus ⅛ teaspoon, divided
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
½ cup chopped yellow onion
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
½ cup Marsala
½ cup unsalted chicken broth
½ tablespoon butter



Season chicken with ¼ teaspoon each pepper and salt. Place flour in a shallow dish and dredge the cutlets in it, pressing gently to fully coat.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half the cutlets and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining cutlets. Cover to keep warm.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and creminis to the pan; cook, stirring occasionally until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add shiitakes to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to the bowl and season with the remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt.



Add onion, thyme and the remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper to the pan; cook, stirring often, until the onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pan. Stir in Marsala and broth, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer over medium heat until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce.