A chicken dish based on chicken marsala, but using balsamic vinegar instead of marsala wine. I served this over brown rice and spinach, with a side of butternut squash, and used a white truffle butter too cook the rice and squash.
Also, this came out a bit oily, so I’d suggest draining off some of the oil before making the roux.
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large pieces
- 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp paprika (I used a hot Hungarian paprika. The spiciness was a bit of an issue. If you like the spiciness, maybe try using a cajun seasoning instead of paprika)
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 tbsp butter (optional. I used a black truffle butter here)
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- ¼ to ½ cup balsamic vinegar (The real deal. You probably already know that most of the stuff sold as “balsamic vinegar” is just red wine vinegar with molasses. I managed to snag a couple of bottles of Cavedoni Botte Piccola at a substantial mark-down, though it was hard to persuade myself to commit so much of it)
- 3 tbsp spaghetti sauce
- 12 oz baby portabella mushrooms, sliced thick
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. In a shallow bowl, mix the flour and paprika. Dredge the chicken pieces and then fry in the skillet until golden brown. Do not overcook. Remove chicken and put aside. Fry onions until nearly translucent. Remove onions and put aside. Add remaining flour (Don’t add more than 3 tbsp yet) to pan and stir with a wooden or silicone spoon to form a roux. You can hold back some of the flour if it looks like the roux is thick enough. Melt in the butter if the roux becomes too thick. You should end up with a ball about the size of a small egg.
Deglaze the pan with the chicken broth, incorporating the roux. Whisk in a quarter-cup of balsamic vinegar and the spaghetti sauce. Bring to a boil. Add the mushrooms. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about half an hour, until the sauce has reduced by about 30-50%. Add the chicken and onions back in about 15 minutes before cooking is finished. Add additional balsamic vinegar to achieve a nice balance of flavors. Finish by stirring in a tablespoon of cream.