Last week was blurry and off kilter. It seemed to be so for everyone I've come in contact with, strangers and friends alike. For me personally, work and excessive proofreading had my mind running desperately and illogically. But Friday brought with it some new inspiration (and about half a dozen pints of Guinness, not sure which came first). This Sunday, the new creative group of which I've recently become a part, met at my apartment; each meeting brings about a new bit of knowledge and fresh ideas that have already nudged my imagination back into action. Saturday, a photograph from my friend and photographer Matthew Tischler came in the mail (pictured above). He was excited to tell me earlier this week that his photographs were being released as limited prints in Jen Beckman's 20x200 gallery. We've also recently purchased two paintings from Sharon "Mama" Spell, whose artwork has been on display at The Fall Cafe in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn; I'm pleased with the prospect that the dreams and perspectives of those we know and love will be adding to the atmosphere of our home. Other close friends seem to be tapping into their creative sides. Sophia in particular (already quite tapped in but continuing nonetheless) is to appear in Dark Space at Chasama, a performance piece which includes some abstract puppetry. Perhaps it's because times are tight; we're feeling stuck and we seem to be pushing with increased intensity to develop our creative outlets. When feeling so stagnant, what else can we really do to solve it but create?
Continuing in this fashion, on Saturday I created another cozy evening of slow-cooking and film noir. As I love, love, LOVE cooking with wine, the menu included a very simple crock pot chicken marsala, with ridiculously easy preparation. (Child's play, really.) The film, let's say was a bit more complex-- Charles Vidor's Gilda, starring the illustrious Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford.
Chicken marsala + cabernet + femme fatale = a night of mixed intensity
The recipe I followed is from Pillsbury's Slow Cooker Classic Cookbooks. It turned out pretty well--the marsala sauce was perfect, however, I think the cook time was way too long and my chicken came a bit dry. Next time, I'd say 2 1/2 to 3 hours max in the pot. I served this as the recipe suggested, over a bed of white rice and with a simple salad of romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and oil and balsamic dressing. It was about 20 degrees on Saturday night, and the crock pot version of this dish was very comforting. Also, while it is less authentic, it is in fact much healthier as it eliminates frying in butter and olive oil.
Crock Pot Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (again, I never use just two)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (olive!)
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 jars (6 oz each) Green Giant (R) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup sweet marsala wine
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup cornstarch
(I improvised here and used Wondra, sprinkling it into the marsala sauce. Cornstarch is a bit heavy for me, and the Wondra works nicely and does not thicken the liquid too much.)
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Directions
Spray 4-5 quart slow cooker with cooking spray (I always forget to do this). Place garlic and oil in the cooker. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and place in the cooker over oil and garlic. Note: I did not buy cutlets, but I did trim the breasts down a bit to even them out. If the breast are too thick, I think it takes away from the marsala and does not absorb as well.
Place the mushrooms over the chicken and pour wine over everything.
Cover and cook on low heat for 5-6 hours. (Again, next time I'm going with 3 hours, tops. I would test a piece now and then to make sure it's not drying out.)
Remove chicken from cooker; place on plate and cover to keep warm. In a small bowl, mix water and cornstarch until smooth. Stir liquid into the cooker, OR sprinkle Wondra into the cooker until desired consistency is reached. Change cooking setting to "high" and cook about 10 minutes more, until sauce is thickened.
Return chicken to cooker. Cover and cook on high about five minutes longer, until chicken is hot.
To serve, spoon mushroom mixture over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with parsley.
Finished product. Sit back, sip your wine and get lost in some intense drama.
A note on Marsala 
I've read on a number of sites to never cook with wine that you would not consider drinking. Because of this, I've been passing up the Marsala cooking wine conveniently located by the fine cheeses at Keyfoods, and decided to find out a bit more about the real thing. The city of Marsala itself is a seaport city located at the west end of Sicily. It is said that the wine gained it's name from the Greek warlord Marsala who believed that men fought better after drinking a bit of wine. (I'm not particularly keen on that association, as I consider food and drink a manifestation of love...) Around 1773, the merchant John Woodhouse began importing the wine from Sicily to England. Marsala is fortified with brandy, making for a longer shelf life than other types of wine (you can keep it around for about 3 or 4 months and still get a decent flavor). In the 18th century, this was to ensure that the wine lasted through long sea voyages to England.
I had trouble finding Marsala wine in my local wine shop; I was lead over to where its family of ports and the sherries were located. Marsala comes in three different forms, oro (golden), ambra (amber), rubino (ruby) depending on if white skin or dark red skin berry grapes are used. There is sweet and dry marsala--while this specific recipe called for sweet, I've read that there is only a minor difference in the two, and it basically came down to preference, if one can notice the difference at all. Perhaps next time, when I make this on the stovetop, I will use dry and decide for myself.
A couple of good web sources for the specifics on Marsala (aside from Wikipedia):
Wine Intro by Lisa Shea
http://www.wineintro.com/types/marsala.html
The Accidental Hedonist
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2006/03/14/what_is_marsala_wine
Photo credits:
Marsala wine bottles from chickenmarsala.net
Grapes from the US Agricultural Research Service Website
2 comments:
I love your food posts. I starred this one in my Google Reader and will definitely make it! I'll have to find a substitute for corn starch though as that's not a typical French ingredient.
That photo is amazing btw.
Hmmm....do you have Wondra? If not, you can probably just add some flour to thicken it.
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