Chicken Marsala and Asparagus

I love a good Chicken Marsala! Since we just moved to Louisiana...I am still finding my way around and it took going to 5 different stores before I found Marsala wine for the recipe. Thank you Albertsons!! They had an expansive wine selection and I finally found it there. Marsala is nice to cook with because it saves very well...where most wines do not once they are opened.

This is my interpretation of Emeril's recipe. If you would like to see how he did it, here is the site.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html

Emeril pan fries the chicken...but I'm not a fan of doing it that way..so my recipe is a baked version. And in this particular cooking experience my sauce was a little thin...so I bumped up the amount of flour you should add in the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 container sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Minced garlic
• Salt and black pepper
• Onion powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper, salt, onion powder, and garlic. Bake for 40-45 minutes ensuring the meat is cooked through. While meat is baking, make the sauce.

Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to a medium skillet then add mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown.

Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour to thicken sauce slightly.

 Carefully add the sauce and mushrooms to the baking chicken for the last 10 minutes of bake time. When chicken is done baking, remove from oven and stir in remaining butter.

Serve over mashed potatoes for a yummy, filling dinner.

The beauty of this asparagus recipe is that you can make the asparagus the way you like it. I happen to like it a little on the crisp side, but some people like it more soft. Just increase the cook time to get it how you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 1/4 large sweet onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• black pepper

Directions:
Wash asparagus and break off the very bottom part (it should snap right off). In a large skillet, heat butter and onions til golden. Add in asparagus and sprinkle with pepper. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy! Cheers!
CC