Chicken Marsala

Here is Kevin's famous chicken marsala recipe:

Be forewarned - this should not, could not, will not, be considered healthy food. But it is absolutely amazing, rich, and special to have every couple years. The leftovers don't last long. It is a process, but totally worth every second.

Ingredients:

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 shallots, minced.finely chopped
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 small container heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups extra fluffy pancake mix, hungry jack
• 1 cup of parmesan bread crumbs
• 3 eggs
• 1 bottle of marsala cooking wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 package thinly sliced chicken
• 2 packages (quarts) of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small container parmesan cheese
• 2 packages of fresh linguine
• Salt & pepper to taste

Put dry ingredients (pancake mix, bread crumbs, and 1 T parmesan cheese) in bowl and mix together. Whip eggs in separate bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Here is the beginning of the process - I like to call it organized chaos.

Place vegetable oil in pan over med high (ensure your oil is hot). Dip chicken in egg mixture, then dry mixture (generously coated) – then add to hot oil. Cook until lightly browned on both sides and set aside to drain on paper towels. Dust bottom of plate with parmesan cheese and place chicken on plate. Then dust top of chicken with parmesan too. (The chef said this dusting process was important - so I put it in bold. I am not convinced.) Cover with foil to keep warm. Remove oil from pan.

In the same pan (with oil removed) put in garlic and drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Cook for 1 min so the garlic has time to infuse the oil, but not brown. Add shallots and saute until translucent. Add two packages of mushrooms to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 bottle of marsala wine – reduce liquid by half. (apprx 20 mins at medium-high heat)

Add 1 cup chicken stock, cook for another 10 mins. Add heavy cream, salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of butter, cook for another 10 mins. Remove from heat. Slowly stir in remaining parmesan cheese with sauce. The key is to make the sauce creamier without cooking the cheese so that it becomes stringy.

Return chicken to pan. Heat until chicken is warm (about 5 mins). Serve over fresh pasta, cooked according to package directions. Season pasta with olive oil and kosher salt to ensure it doesnt stick. *Note from the chef: Feel free to drink liquid when complete. * Enjoy! ...and then make sure to go for a 10 mile run to work all of this off! :)