Review: Sicilin Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Marsala - April '01

[Peggy]

This is a big winner at our house! I made it for dinner and it went together really easily. Lots of ingredients but quick prep time. I must be having good cooking karma because the toothpicks actually worked this time and my stuffing stayed in the chicken. Hurray!

Anyway, the end result was very good. The presentation was beautiful and the sauce delicious. My daughter, who usually turns her nose north at the sight of spinach, gobbled her serving down without a word. Dh gave it an 8.7! I served it with Lemon Couscous (Mar '00) and leftover Carrot-Ginger Soup (Apr '01). This was our best dinner this week... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Peggy

P.S. Went right past this one until a CL friend mentioned it. So glad she did!

[pmmahan]

Peggy-
I've been wondering about this recipe, but with your review, I will definitely be trying it! Thanks!

[misstapioca]

i made these last night. They are great the sauce was so yummy. i loved the golden raisins with the marsala. This is the 1st time the toothpicks ever held together for me too. and my stuffing stayed in place. This recipe is fantastic!

[JennieL]

Made this with my supper club. It was a big hit. Served it with the Portobello layered mashed potatoes from CL.

[Karen from VA]

Because of your recommendations, I made this for dinner tonight. I've never had Marsala on hand so decided to finally buy it. However, I found there was both sweet and dry Marsala which threw me for a loop. Because most recipes I've read that call for Marsala seem to pair it with fruit, I chose the sweet. The chicken was good, but I wasn't overly thrilled with the sweetness of the sauce. Should I have gotten the dry Marsala instead? I don't ever remember any recipe specifying one or the other.

Karen

[chefbec]

This sounds great, and I love Marsala. I'll have to try this one 4 sure! Thanks for the review.

[Peggy]

Karen,

I used the dry Marsala and thought the sauce was wonderful. My husband doesn't like sweet Marsala so I just keep the dry on hand. I imagine that could make quite a difference in the taste of the sauce. I hope you will have plenty of other uses for the bottle you bought since it didn't work out for the chicken! How disappointing for you! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif

Peggy

[kendraS]

Could you please post the recipe? Still haven't received my April issue yet! Thanks.

[Karen from VA]

Originally posted by Peggy:
Karen,
. . .I hope you will have plenty of other uses for the bottle you bought since it didn't work out for the chicken! How disappointing for you! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif
Peggy

Peggy, since I got along for 40+ years of cooking without buying Marsala, I can only imagine how long it's going to take me to use up this bottle!!!

Karen

[Joyce]

I notice several of you on this thread mentioning your toothpicks holding. I don't know if you have tried it, but I always use those extra long stainless skewers ( the kind that you thread up your turkey with. Work great and they are five or six for about $1 or $2 and last forever.

[Peggy]

Kendra,

Here is the recipe:

Sicilian Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Marsala (April '01)

1 T olive oil, divided
1/2 teas crushed red pepper
1/2 teas dried oregano
1/4 teas salt
1 (10oz) pkg frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Marsala, divided
3 T grated fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 T golden raisins
2 T capers
4 (4 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
2 T sherry vinegar
2 T water
1/2 teas cornstarch

1. Heat 1 teas oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add red pepper, oregano, salt, spinach, and garlic; cook 3 minutes. Place spinach mixture in a medium bowl. Stir in 1 T Marsala, cheese, raisins, and capers; set aside.

2. Cut a horizonal slit through the thickest portion of each chicken breast to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/3 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Secure each chicken breast with wooden toothpicks. Dredge chicken breasts in breadcrumbs, turning to coat; shake off excess breadcrumbs.

3. Heat 2 teas oil in pan over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 12 minutes or until chicken is browned, turning after 6 minutes. Remove from pan; keep warm. Add remaining Marsala and vinegar to pan. Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly; add chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until chicken is done. Drizzle remaining sauce over chicken. Yield: 4 servings

Calories 262 (23% from fat); Fat 6.8gm; Protein 31.7gm; Carb 16.7gm; Fiber 2.5gm; Chol 71mg; Iron 2.9mg; Sodium 696mg; Calc 170mg

Hope you get your April issue soon! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Peggy

[PatLB]

For Karen,

I've only managed to cook seriously for 22+ years without buying marsala. But I bought some since I prepared this recipe for a birthday dinner (mine!) and wanted it to be right. The chicken was delicious, the tootpicks worked very well and best of all now I keep finding and trying recipes that call for Marsala.

[deb]

I tried this recipe also. I thought the chicken was good but the sauce was too sweet, even though I purchased a "dry" marsala wine. i do not know anything about marsala wine..I tasted what I bought and it was very very sweet. Does anybody know anything about marsala wine? What brand did you use. I think this recipe has potential if I knew what kind of marsala wine to get.

[pmmahan]

I made this last night and I will add to the positive reviews! It was very good. I wasn't sure if I'd like the raisin/spinach/caper combo, but it was very good (although I did reduce the amount of capers by 1/2 - I'm not a big fan) and the cooking time was just perfect for the chicken on my stove.

[Jewel]

I learned the hard way about Marsala wine, and unfortunately it wasn't something I made that we could just call an 'oops' and go on with our lives, but a dinner we paid over $20 per plate for! DH and I have been eating Chicken Marsala in various restaurants across the states with fabulous results. We went to one very recommended restaurant here in Seattle for dinner, and I ordered the Marsala. It was so sweet it tasted like the chicken was basted in Pancake Syrup. I asked about it, and the waiter brought the chef out! Said it was just a reduction sauce of nothing but Marsala wine...Sweet Marsala. I told him we simply couldn't eat it, and they graciously removed it from our bill. Since then, we ASK if it's dry or Sweet Marsala before ordering this dish. To this day, we have never heard of another restaurant using the sweet version in that dish. Go figure!

What we did find out, however, was even the Dry Marsala has a bit of a sweet taste to it. So, even with fruit, I would say Dry is your choice. Personally, I think why spend the cash on Sweet Marsala when you could get Mrs. Butterworth's a lot cheaper and have a cuter bottle to boot! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Jewel]

Originally posted by Karen from VA:
Jewel, I agree with you on your Mrs. Butterworth comment. Actually, I think the recipe would be very good just using any dry white wine.

Karen, sitting with a nearly full bottle of sweet Marsala. Yuk.

Well Karen, you could really make some kicked-up waffles on Sunday!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif Kids wouldn't know what hit 'em!!

[Karen from VA]

Jewel, I agree with you on your Mrs. Butterworth comment. Actually, I think the recipe would be very good just using any dry white wine.

Karen, sitting with a nearly full bottle of sweet Marsala. Yuk.