Chicken Marsala.

The wonderful flavor comes from the right wine to the right ingredients.

The cooking process utilize saute-ing (a type of dry-heat cooking with fat, cooking techniques). Use a pan that's large enough so you don't crowd the chickens when you brown them. If the pan is too small, the heat will drop too much when the chicken hits the pan and the chicken will end up simmering in their own juice. By the time they are properly browned, they will be overcooked and grainy.

If the pan is too big, there will be areas of the pan without food to absorb the heat, where the oil may burn in those areas. If this happens when you are cooking, pour a few drops of cooking wine to prevent the burn. (More tips about high heat cooking and browning.)

Ingredients (yield 2 servings):

• 2 chicken thighs or boneless chicken breasts, skin on, about 1 inch thick
• 2 shallot minced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoons butter 
• 8 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 cups chicken stock
• 1/3 cup dry or regular Marsala wine ( or dry Sherry, Madeira, or use white wine such as sauvignon blanc)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 branch of thyme
• 2 tablespoon heavy cream or butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 

Directions:

1. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper.
2. Place a heavy pan on medium high heat and let it heat for 3 minutes. 
3. Make sure there is no liquid left in the pan when you are ready to add oil, or it will burst, spatter and splash very vigorously and burn you. 
4. Add the high smoke-point oil. Once the oil begins to creep around the pan, almost as if you can see the convective movements in action and oil forms wavy patterns. Add the chicken when the oil is ready and hot. Make sure you put it away from you so you don't burn yourself.
5. When the browning is beginning, turn the heat to medium. It takes about 3 to 4 minutes to brown one side of chicken. Flip and cook another 3 to 4 min to brown. Then transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. The chicken should be golden brown on both sides and the skin should be crispy. Let it rest in a warm spot while you make a pan sauce from the fond.
6. Put the pan back on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and sliced mushrooms to it. Cook about 4 to 5 minutes.
7. Add minced garlic and shallots and saute about 1 minute. 
8. Add the wine to deglaze and scrape off the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock to reinforce the chicken flavor. Add bay leave and thyme. Let it simmer and reduce until nearly dry (French term: A sec). Add cold butter or heavy cream to thicken and cook another 3 minute. The sauce should be thickened to coat the back of a spoon (French term: Nappé). Taste the sauce and season with salt, pepper to taste.
9. Turn down the heat and add the chicken back in just to warm it up very briefly.
10. Place the chicken on plate and spoon the sauce over it to serve, garnished with chopped parsley for the colorful presentation.

Notes:

• This is a classic chicken dish with chicken breasts. You can cut the chicken breast to about 1 inch thick and saute-ing 3 to 4 minutes per side. Or pound the cutlets to about 1⁄4" thick before saute-ing 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side to render them tender. 
• You can dredge the chicken cutlet in 1/4 cup flour before cooking to make the skin more crispy.
• Marsala wine originates from the Italian city of Marsala, which is in Sicily. It is similar to Spanish Sherry. It has a complex, slightly sweet flavor with a little acidity that makes it the perfect choice for this great chicken and mushroom dish. 
• You don’t need to buy an expensive Marsala, but make sure it’s just regular Marsala wine, and not “Sweet Marsala” which is a desert wine and is too sweet for this dish. 
• This same recipe can also be made the with Sherry or Madeira wine with very nice results.
• Saute-ing is a high-heat method that requires plenty of heat in the thermal mass of the pan. A heavier pan retains more thermal mass than a lighter pan does. Well-seasoned cast-iron pans are great at retaining almost all the heat.
• You also need a oil that has high smoke point, such as vegetable oil, peanut oil or canola oil. If you use olive oil, make sure it's the refined light or extra light olive oil that can tolerate high heat in saute-ing. However, you should never use olive oil for frying.
• Meat should generally be cooked for 8 minutes per inch of thickness.