Marsala Sauce

Marsala Sauce is ridiculously easy to make, and goes well with pork, chicken, or veal.  In fact, there is probably no cheaper and easier way to dress up an ordinary chicken breast than by turning it into Chicken Marsala.

The first rule of cooking with wine is to never cook with anything you wouldn’t be willing to drink, and that is true of Marsala wine as well.  It’s very tempting to visit the wine aisle at your local supermarket and pick up one of those bottles of Marsala sitting there on the bottom shelf.  Don’t.  Go for a more expensive higher quality bottle.  You’re buying one bottle, what – every 3 -6 months?  And you want the Dry Marsala, not the Sweet Marsala.

Most recipes for Marsala sauce do not include demi-glace, but I always ad a splash of demi-glace for richness.

1/2 cup DryMarsala wine
Shallot
3-4oz button mushrooms
Unsalted butter
Demi-glace
Slice the mushrooms and sauté them in a little butter.  Set aside and keep warm. Chop the shallots.

When the chicken, pork, or veal is done, remove the meat, tent it with foil and keep it warm.  Put the chopped shallots and a little butter or oil in the same pan formerly occupied by the veal/pork/chicken and brown them over low heat. Add the Marsala and deglaze the pan. Let the marsala reduce by at least 3/4.  Add a splash of demi-glace.  Strain the sauce and add the strained sauce to the mushrooms.  Add a little butter and whisk well to combine.