Creamy Chicken Marsala

So, it turns out that I didn't have any mushrooms in the house, and everyone knows you can't have Chicken Marsala without mushrooms.  Fortunately, I had to run errands yesterday, so I picked up a gallon of milk and some baby bella mushrooms for dinner last night.  Marsala is not one of those meals that goes as far as some of the others I make, so I waited until there were only three of us here for the night (which hardly every happens!).  I ate at Olive Garden a few years ago (yes, I have a point, here), and when I ordered their Chicken Marsala, they accidentally brought me the Marsala sauce they serve with their stuffed Marsala, which was creamy.  I, of course, have endeavored to make my home-cooked sauce a creamy one, and this is what I have come up with:

Creamy Chicken Marsala

To roll your chicken in:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp Emeril's Essence

2.5 lb chicken breasts, trimmed and butterflied
2 tbsp olive oil
8 tbsp butter or margarine (I use the real thing)
2 packages mushrooms, washed and sliced
2 cups Marsala cooking wine
2 cups chicken broth
8 to 16 ounces heavy cream (if you want to have regular Marsala sauce, leave this off)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix your seasoning and flour to created a seasoned flour.  Roll your chicken in the flour, shaking off excess.
Heat olive oil over a medium high heat (not until smoking).  Add 4 tbsp butter and pan fry your breasts about three minutes per side until a nice golden brown.  Transfer to a plate as they finish, and set aside (not where your dog can reach them).  There should still be plenty of oil/butter mixture to saute your mushrooms.  Stir frequently until they darken and give off liquid. 

 Mushrooms

At this point, add your wine, assuming you didn't drink it absentmindedly because you have a teenager living in your home whose hormones are going crazy, and at this point any alcohol sounds good.  Bring mixture to a boil, making sure any drippings are part of the sauce and not still stuck to the bottom of your pan.  When your wine has reduced by about half-ish, add the chicken broth and cook for three or four minutes (I usually throw my bouillon cubes in with the wine, and just add water once the wine has reduced) until it thickens slightly.  Lower your heat to medium and return your chicken breasts to the pan.  Continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through and your sauce has thickened, which should take at least five to six minutes, though it can take a little longer with thicker chicken breasts, so just take care, and when in doubt, pull a breast and test the center of the thickest spot. 

 Pre-cream

Now, remember the other 4 tbsp of butter?  Toss that in along with some salt and pepper.  When you are pleased with the taste, add 8 ounces of cream, and gently mix it in.  If you want it to be more creamy, you can add some more of the cream until it is exactly how you want it.  Pull it off the heat and serve over mashed potatoes. 

 My son's plate...as he was trying to take bites out of it

If you made your sauce without the cream, you may prefer to serve it with pasta, but I think the cream sauce goes better with mashed potatoes, myself.  Enjoy!  And, as always, if you have any questions or suggestions for improvement, let me know!