Toddler Friendly Recipe: Chicken Marsala

I have a new idea: I want to be writing more, and I want to cook more. So, I have decided to challenge myself to cook (like fancy cook) at least once a week. I know, it is a sad challenge. But the truth is that right now we eat with our families at least 4 days a week. It is convenient, cheap, fun - and we actually get to eat while someone else chases Lydia around! However, I miss cooking, and I miss sitting down together just the 2 or 3 of us and enjoying a good meal.

The other thing that I want to do is share the recipe with you, and modify the preparations for you mommies out there. I have learned more than once that when Barefoot Contessa or Simply Recipes tells me it will take 20 minutes to prep my meal, Lydia decides it will take closer to 45. So I have found ways to do some chopping here, use some leftovers there so that I don't have to be intimidated by making a meal for my family - even with a part time job and a toddler.

I should add the disclaimer that I don't come up with recipes on my own. I will link you to the 2 or 3 that (most of the time heavily) inspired me. But at the same time I rarely follow a recipe to the tee, unless I am baking. Sometimes it is because I don't have an ingredient, other times it is because I think something extra would be better. So the recipes that I put here are not originals, they are someone else's with a few tweeks.

The other night I made a really delicious recipe. It was a Monday and was feeling particularly motivated, and hungry. I saw that we had a bunch of mushrooms, so decided to browse Pinterest for some ideas. Chicken is our go to meat and I saw a few Chicken Marsala recipes (here and here) that piqued my interest I combined them together to make something delicious and totally do-able.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs olive oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup pancetta (if you have it, we surprisingly did!)
1 Tbs butter
8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
3 green onions
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of white wine (aka marsala. I used whatever we had... and if you don't have wine use chicken broth instead)
1 cup of chicken broth or stock
1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs chopped parsley (I used dry)

Now for the mommy friendly preparation directions:

When I got home from work around 1 I put my frozen chicken (which was in a sealed plastic bag) into some warm water and let it thaw. By 5:00 it was soft, so I started to prep - 1 hour and 45 minutes before I wanted to have dinner on the table. It's okay - don't get scared.

I trimmed the chicken and cut it in half width wise so that I had 6 thin pieces. I got out all of my ingredients and measuring utensils, and chopped the green onion and garlic. My mushrooms were pre-sliced but if your aren't, slice them now; same with the pancetta. With a 14 month old the trimming and chopping process took about 45 minutes... I fed Lydia, we sang and danced together and I showed her how to use a bowl and spoon to stir. I also went ahead and got out 2 skillets and browsed the fridge for easy sides. We had left over mashed potatoes and some Green Giant frozen green beans. I went ahead and pulled those out to the counter.

at 6:00 - 45 minutes before I wanted dinner to be ready - I fired up one of the skillets and added the olive oil. Let the oil heat up for a bit on medium heat, then put your chicken in. Add salt and pepper, and let each side get slightly brown (about 3-4 minutes per side). Make sure to season the second side of the chicken as well. Then set the chicken on a back burner and keep the heat on low.

In the second pan turn the heat on medium and add the pancetta. Cook it until it starts to get brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the first Tbs of butter and the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms brown up too, another 7-8 minutes.

As this point you need to find something for your baby to do for 5 minutes. I recommend Sesame Street or a delicious snack in the high chair. Add your pre-chopped garlic and onion and stir everything around for a couple minutes, being sure to not burn the garlic. Stir in the wine, then add the chicken broth and cut the lemon in half and squeeze its juice into the pan. Give it a stir and bring up the heat until it is boiling. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes until the sauce is reduced by about half. Once the heat is reduced you can pick baby up and go read her a story.

Once the sauce has reduced sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir in the remaining butter and add the chicken. Let the chicken simmer with it for another 3-5 minutes while you warm up the sides in the microwave and set the table (or while you change a diaper). Right before you plate it up stir in the parsley... and voila! We had the wine with our dinner and it was absolutely delicious.