Chicken Madiera
INGREDIENTS:
4 lg Boneless chicken breast
-halves
8 oz Portobellos; thickly sliced*
-and **
1 c All-purpose flour
2 tb Butter
2 tb Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground
-pepper to taste; or Chef?s
-salt to taste***
1 tb Fresh Italian parsley or
-basil; minced
Springs of either fresh
-Italian parsley or basil
1/2 c Dry Madeira wine
1/2 c Chicken broth
4 lg Boneless chicken breast
-halves
8 oz Portobellos; thickly sliced*
-and **
1 c All-purpose flour
2 tb Butter
2 tb Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground
-pepper to taste; or Chef?s
-salt to taste***
1 tb Fresh Italian parsley or
-basil; minced
Springs of either fresh
-Italian parsley or basil
1/2 c Dry Madeira wine
1/2 c Chicken broth
(Roberta Brisson's Copycat???)
Place chicken breasts one at a time between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Lay the chicken pieces, with the side from which the skin was removed down, on the waxed paper and gently flatten with a mallet. Flatten them to about 1/4-inch thickness. Pounding the chicken has two purposes; 1) to make the breast larger, and most importantly 2) is to make the thickness even so the cooking time will be uniform.
Combine flour, salt and pepper on a clean piece of waxed paper. Coat each chicken breast with seasoned flour; lift by one end and gently shake off excess flour. Place each dusted piece of chicken on another piece of waxed paper, and do not allow them to overlap each other.****
Melt 2 teaspoons butter and 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large, deep, nonstick skillet. When the butter and oil are hot (bubbling), add mushrooms. Saut? on high heat until mushrooms are lightly browned and softened, and all the liquid has evaporated. Remove mushrooms from skillet and set aside. Season mushrooms with salt, pepper (or Chef?s Salt), and parsley or basil. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add remaining butter and olive oil. Add chicken to skillet cooking the deskinned side first. Saut? chicken breasts 2-3 minutes on each side. Do not overcook. Transfer chicken to a large platter and cover with foil. OR You can also keep the cooked chicken breasts in a warm oven (150-200 degrees) on a large platter.
When all chicken breasts are saut?ed, pour off the excess fat from the skillet, leaving only a few drops in the pan. Pour in the wine and chicken broth, and over medium heat, scrape the bottom of the pan, loosening all particles adhering to the bottom and dissolving them in the liquid. OR You can deglaze the pan in the more traditional way. Add wine to skillet and saut? on high heat until reduced in volume by half, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and saut? on high heat until reduced in volume by half, about 1 minute.
Return the portobellos to the skillet. Taste, and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve.
Serve the chicken on a platter decorated with fresh sprigs of Italian parsley or basil, whichever herb you chose to use in the dish.
Makes 4 servings.
NOTE: *You can use any kind of fresh mushrooms. I would not mix different mushrooms. If you use shiitake mushrooms, discard the stems.
**There are many schools of thought on cleaning mushrooms, and these are mine: I find them dirty and feel they need to be cleaned. I gently wipe each individual mushroom with flour sack towel or I guess you could use a paper towel (I know, I bruising them.). If keeping the stem, I slice off the dry looking portion on bottom end it. I never wash mushrooms. Washing mushrooms gets them water-soaked and ruins the dish. One cookbook I have instructs you to sprinkle flour on the surface of the water before plunging in the mushrooms. It seems to help carry off the dirt, and perhaps also coats the mushrooms so that they don?t get water-soaked. I have never had any success with this method. Nor do I peel mushrooms.
*** I also make my own seasoned salt and use it instead of salt and pepper 99% of the time (recipe follows).
****Dusting the chicken with flour before saut?ing can be omitted. If you choose to omit this step, you?ll probably need to add 1 to 2 teaspoons of flour to the fat before adding any liquid. Follow instructions for Pan Deglazing (recipe and secrets to deglazing, recipe follows). You will also need to season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper (or chef's salt).
Place chicken breasts one at a time between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Lay the chicken pieces, with the side from which the skin was removed down, on the waxed paper and gently flatten with a mallet. Flatten them to about 1/4-inch thickness. Pounding the chicken has two purposes; 1) to make the breast larger, and most importantly 2) is to make the thickness even so the cooking time will be uniform.
Combine flour, salt and pepper on a clean piece of waxed paper. Coat each chicken breast with seasoned flour; lift by one end and gently shake off excess flour. Place each dusted piece of chicken on another piece of waxed paper, and do not allow them to overlap each other.****
Melt 2 teaspoons butter and 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large, deep, nonstick skillet. When the butter and oil are hot (bubbling), add mushrooms. Saut? on high heat until mushrooms are lightly browned and softened, and all the liquid has evaporated. Remove mushrooms from skillet and set aside. Season mushrooms with salt, pepper (or Chef?s Salt), and parsley or basil. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add remaining butter and olive oil. Add chicken to skillet cooking the deskinned side first. Saut? chicken breasts 2-3 minutes on each side. Do not overcook. Transfer chicken to a large platter and cover with foil. OR You can also keep the cooked chicken breasts in a warm oven (150-200 degrees) on a large platter.
When all chicken breasts are saut?ed, pour off the excess fat from the skillet, leaving only a few drops in the pan. Pour in the wine and chicken broth, and over medium heat, scrape the bottom of the pan, loosening all particles adhering to the bottom and dissolving them in the liquid. OR You can deglaze the pan in the more traditional way. Add wine to skillet and saut? on high heat until reduced in volume by half, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and saut? on high heat until reduced in volume by half, about 1 minute.
Return the portobellos to the skillet. Taste, and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve.
Serve the chicken on a platter decorated with fresh sprigs of Italian parsley or basil, whichever herb you chose to use in the dish.
Makes 4 servings.
NOTE: *You can use any kind of fresh mushrooms. I would not mix different mushrooms. If you use shiitake mushrooms, discard the stems.
**There are many schools of thought on cleaning mushrooms, and these are mine: I find them dirty and feel they need to be cleaned. I gently wipe each individual mushroom with flour sack towel or I guess you could use a paper towel (I know, I bruising them.). If keeping the stem, I slice off the dry looking portion on bottom end it. I never wash mushrooms. Washing mushrooms gets them water-soaked and ruins the dish. One cookbook I have instructs you to sprinkle flour on the surface of the water before plunging in the mushrooms. It seems to help carry off the dirt, and perhaps also coats the mushrooms so that they don?t get water-soaked. I have never had any success with this method. Nor do I peel mushrooms.
*** I also make my own seasoned salt and use it instead of salt and pepper 99% of the time (recipe follows).
****Dusting the chicken with flour before saut?ing can be omitted. If you choose to omit this step, you?ll probably need to add 1 to 2 teaspoons of flour to the fat before adding any liquid. Follow instructions for Pan Deglazing (recipe and secrets to deglazing, recipe follows). You will also need to season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper (or chef's salt).