Cooking in Pajamas: A Food Blog

This dish may sound hard to make, but it it not.  Chicken Marsala is a staple recipe everyone should know how to make, and this version is incredibly simple to prepare and delicious to eat!  Serve with a salad, and a side of rice or noodles to soak up the Marsala-mushroom sauce.  Elegant enough for company, easy enough for a weeknight dinner.

***Option:  Leave out the heavy cream, and thicken the sauce with a slurry (slurry= equal parts water+cornstarch).  Mix in a small bowl before adding to your skillet.

This week's Barefoot Blogger recipe was chosen by Michelle of Welcome To the Club.  An excellent choice with the holiday season in full swing.  These mushrooms are a perfect start to any meal, whether it be dinner or brunch. In addition, these little guys will travel well, so if you are asked to bring a dish, bring these mushrooms.  They will work great, and everyone will rave!

I found the extra large mushroom caps in the grocery store, but the stems were already removed.  Since the recipe calls for using the removed stems in the stuffing mixture, I purchased a package of baby portobellos, chopped up a few, and used for the stuffing.

I chose to use Italian turkey sausage, that I purchased at Whole Foods, instead of pork sausage.  I know other people who have used chicken sausage in this recipe with great success as well.  One of the Barefoot Bloggers is a vegetarian, and she used veggie crumbles in place of the sausage!  You could sprinkle a few chives on top of the cooked mushrooms.  They added nice color to the presentation.  I forgot to add in my chopped parsley.....still delicious.

I would definitely recommend this recipe as an excellent make-ahead dish.  You can prepare it up until the time it goes into the oven to bake, cover it, and store it until ready to heat.  The leftover mushrooms were delicious the next day, re-heated in the oven.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 16 extra-large white mushrooms
• 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine or medium sherry
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casings
• 6 scallions, white and green parts, minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2/3 cup panko crumbs
• 5 ounces mascarpone cheese, preferably from Italy
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it's completely browned. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients. Finally, swirl in the mascarpone and continue cooking until the mascarpone has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste, Cool slightly.

Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes in the world to serve to my family and friends.  It is easy to make, and everyone LOVES it!  Plus, it can easily be made several hours in advance, or even days in advance, and reheated right before serving.  It is another one of Ina Garten's recipes (I know it seems like I am obsessed with her, but her recipes are really, really good!).

The original recipe called for dried morels, which you will discover are very expensive.  The first time I made the dish, I splurged, and used the dried morels.  The dish was fantastic.  I prepared enough chicken for 12 guests (I was only serving 8 guests), and there was not a single piece of chicken left over!  The next time I prepared the dish, I decided to use a mix of fresh mushrooms (portabellas, shitake, button, oyster...whatever I could find).  The cost was a fraction of the dried morels, and I found the final result to be just as good.  It wasn't quite as sophisticated, and it was missing the most subtle layer of flavor that only someone looking for it could tell.  I haven't used the dried morels since the first time I made the dish, but if I ever find them at a reasonable price, I will definitely stock up.

One more shortcut...the recipe calls for clarified butter.  I used regular, unsalted butter, and it worked just fine.  Enjoy!

Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.

Dredge with flour.

I like to set up a "breading" station.

Make sure the chicken is beautifully browned on both sides.

Here is my mix of fresh mushrooms.

Now they are sauteed.

The beginnings of the sauce.

Just added the liquid...tell me this sauce does not look AMAZING!!!!

The sauce has been reduced perfectly...nice and creamy!

Garnish with fresh parsley for a beautiful presentation.

I will never quite understand the Rachel Ray backlash.  OK..maybe venturing into a one hour a day talk show is a bit too much of her high energy giggling, but I think her 30 minute meals are awesome!  This chicken dish took 20 minutes to make, and was tasty, delicious, easy to make, and my whole family loved it.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, except for the fresh mushrooms, the flat leaf parsley and the shallots (I always stock up on chicken cutlets when they go on sale, and freeze them), so my trip to the grocery store was under $10, and I was in and out in under 10 minutes (including the fact it was senior citizen discount day!).  It can definitely be made early in the day, and reheated right before dinner, and it is elegant enough for company.  Plus, it was very filling.  You do not need to serve any other side dishes with this meal, unless you want to add a simple green salad on the side.

Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

courtesy of Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

Kosher salt

1/2 pound orzo pasta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces

Pepper

2 tablespoons butter

12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced

12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced

12 white mushrooms, sliced

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it

3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo pasta. Cook to al dente.

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice the chicken on an angle. Add the parsley and the chicken back to the skillet to heat up, about 1 minute.

To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with the sliced chicken and sauce.

There is nothing more comforting than a big bowl of pasta.  This recipe, courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, is creamy, nutty, and makes a wonderful vegetarian dinner.  I call it 'Upscale', because it can easily be made for guests, who will be very impressed by this dish, and they will think you were in the kitchen all afternoon (believe me....you won't be!).

Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 # rigatoni (I substituted rotini..any tube like shape pasta will work)

2 T. EVOO

2 shallots, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1 # assorted mushrooms (such as cremini, shitake, portabello, button), cleaned and sliced

1/2 c. white wine

1/2 c. vegetable stock

1 c. (8oz.) mascarpone cheese (at room temp.)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan

1/4 c. fresh chives, chopped

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add pasta and cook to al dente.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.  Add shallots and garlic to the pan.   Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until soft, about 2 min.  Add mushrooms and season again with salt and pepper.  Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally for 5 - 7 minutes.  Turn heat to high, and add wine.  Cook for 3 minutes until all of the liquid evaporates.  Add stock and simmer until liquid is slightly reduced.  Remove heat from pan.  Add mascarpone cheese and stir until creamy.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 c. of the cooking water, and place the pasta in a serving bowl.  Add the mushroom mixture and Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss well to coat pasta, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta.  Garnish with chopped chives and serve right away.