Chicken Marsala

One of my favorite chicken dishes is chicken marsala which combines sweet marsala wine with mushrooms, garlic and onion on top of a thinly pounded chicken breast. I have found that the quality of the marsala sauce at restaurants varies greatly in terms of texture, sweetness and number of mushrooms. So, I found several  recipes and combined them into one that that contains my favorite elements - a nice hearty, thick, sweet sauce with plenty of mushrooms. The recipe below yields 4 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. The sauce shouldn't be made too far ahead or it will thicken too much. The sauce takes 10-15 minutes so try to time it to be ready right when the chicken is done.
2. I used a combination of white and shiitake mushrooms but you can use whatever you prefer.
3. If you don't have any beef stock, you can make it yourself using beef bouillon cubes in water. It did the job just fine.

INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness and cooked (in a pan or on a grill)
3 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 Tbs garlic, chopped
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbs flour
3/4 cup Marsala wine
1 1/4 cups beef stock
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Add olive oil to a saucepan and heat on medium-high.
2. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and cook down until tender.

















3. Stir in flour and cook for one minute.



4. Add Marsala until pan is deglazed.



5. Add beef stock and cook until thick and flavors are blended.



6. Serve on top of chicken breasts.

Individual Meatloaves with Gorgonzola Mushroom Gravy

Being a huge blue cheese fan, I was so excited to make these mini meat loaves for a recent dinner party. The recipe is actually a mix of several I found online and I was glad it turned out ok. The gravy was delicious and the meatloaves were very moist and flavorful. I fed 15 people the night I made these so don't let the portion sizes in the pictures throw you off the recipe below which yields 6-8 individual meat loaves.

HELPS
1. Be careful when making the meatloaf not to mash it too much or the meat loaves will come out too dense.
2. You may want to consider making extra gravy as this is the star of the dish and your guests may want an extra serving.

INGREDIENTS
Meatloaves
1 Tbs olive oil
3 small yellow onions, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup canned chicken broth
1 Tbs tomato paste
2 1/2 pounds ground chuck (At least 80% lean)
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup ketchup

Gravy
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
10 to 12 cremini (baby portobello mushrooms), quartered
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 pound Gorgonzola
Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS
Meatloaves
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan.
3. Add the onions, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not brown.

















4. Off the heat, add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth, and tomato paste. Allow to cool slightly.

















5. In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, onion mixture, bread crumbs, and eggs, and mix lightly with a fork. Don't over mix.

















6. Divide the mixture into 6 (about 10oz) portions and shape each portion into a small loaf on a sheet pan.
















7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the internal temperature is 155 to 160 degrees F and the meatloaves are cooked through.
8. Serve hot, smothered in gorgonzola mushroom gravy (recipe below).

Gravy
1. Heat olive oil in large skillet.
2. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until dark and tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Add salt and pepper and chicken stock and bring to simmer, stirring occasionally.

















4. In a medium saucepot, melt butter over medium heat.
5. Add flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes to make a roux.
6. Whisk in milk and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

















7. Reduce the sauce a few minutes to thicken a bit.
8. Add milk sauce to the mushrooms.
9. Stir in Gorgonzola cheese until melted to desired consistency.

















10. Plate and serve.

Cinnamon Spice Chili

This recipe is a combination of several that I found, putting them together to form a wonderfully unique chili. The first flavor notes are the warmth of cinnamon and then unexpectedly that warmth turns into just the right amount of spice. This chili is perfect for the fall season and will leave you craving more. Super easy to make with the use of a crockpot, this recipe yields about a dozen servings. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground beef
15 oz canned kidney beans
15 oz canned black beans
15 oz canned diced tomatoes
16 oz canned tomato sauce
1 package taco seasoning
1 tsp tabasco
2 tsp garlic salt
1 cup diced onion
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp chili powder
½ tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Brown ground beef, then discard grease.
2. In crockpot, combine all ingredients.




















































3. Cook on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream if desired.