Chicken Marsala

Everything's better with wine, right? Especially cooking, in my opinion. Anyways, it was my mom's birthday on Tuesday, so in our house, the birthday person gets to chose whether we stay in or go out to dinner and if we stay in, they can choose the meal. So, my mom decided she wanted to stay in and she wanted chicken marsala. And so, that's what I made. This post won't be as good as the other one because I forgot to take pics, sorry!

Anyways, here's what you need: (oh, and I rarely measure... so its mostly according to taste, hope that's ok)
- chicken cutlets, or chicken breasts pounded (either way, they should be about 1/4" thick)
- 1/2 cup marsala wine (ok, maybe I lied about measuring)
- some chicken stock/bouillon/broth/whatever (ok, maybe not)
- olive oil
- butter
- flour
- salt and pepper
- italian seasonings
- crushed/chopped garlic
- onion/shallots (if desired)
- mushrooms, sliced
- fresh italian parsley, chopped (if desired) (aka flat leaf parsley)

And here's what you do with all that stuff:
- Get a big skillet and heat up some olive oil (you want it hot, but not smoking - smoking oil is baaaad)
- While that's heating, dredge your chicken pieces in seasoned flour (flour + salt and pepper + italian seasonings)
- When the oil is hot, pan fry the chicken pieces until brown, then flip over
- While that's going, heat the oven up to 200 degrees
- Once both sides of the chicken pieces are browned, transfer to an oven-safe pan, cover with foil and put in the heated oven to keep warm
- After all the chicken has been browned and is in the oven, add a little bit of olive oil and saute the onions/shallots (if you're using them) until tender, then add garlic and saute for ~30 seconds.
- Add Marsala wine and ~1/2 cup of chicken broth to pan
- Bring to a boil and let reduce to about half
- If you think the sauce is too thin, mix some flour or cornstarch into 1/4 cup water or broth to make a roux, then add to sauce. Reduce further.
- If you think the sauce is too thick, add some Marsala and/or broth
- When you're happy with the consistency of your sauce, add some chopped fresh italian parsely
- Take the chicken out of the oven and put in a serving bowl
- Pour sauce over chicken
- Garnish with italian parsley
- Enjoy with fresh pasta and steamed vegetables!

I hope that recipe made sense.. if it didn't, please let me know and I'll edit it and keep your comments in mind for future recipe posts!!

Ps. On a completely unrelated note, I'm obsessed with Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine's song Stereo Hearts. Just thought you should all know :)