I could not find many sous vide chicken recipes. I thought it might be because chicken is so tender anyway, yet scallops are tender, and I had no problem finding a recipe for them. Does anyone know why this is? I did find one, and this is it. I have always wanted to try Chicken Marsala, anyway, as I love Marsala. So, this would be a great time to try it. However, when I read the recipe, the Marsala part was the mushroom sauce and was made in a frying pan. So, I decided to make this as the main for Cathy’s birthday that I was hosting. It would be a beautiful dish for a gal’s dinner.
Before I get into the process, this sous vide method did made a difference with the structure of the chicken as it did with the scallop. Chicken, when over cooked, can also be stringy. Though this breast of sous vide chicken looks anemic as I haven’t seared it yet, the texture is completely tender and succulent and moist and velvety. What a triumph! However, can you see the embossed markings on the outer area from the vacuum bag. Not very attractive. They did not come out with the searing, so I tried to cover them with the sauce. I was successful as they can be seen here, magnified, but were not visible to the naked eye, once seared and sauced.
An early trip to the OSFM netted me some prime fresh organic breasts from Sunworks Farm. I rinsed them well, patted them dry and seasoned each with salt and pepper and a sprig of thyme.
Vacuum packed without fat, into the water oven they went for 2 hours at 141 ºF., then into an icy water bath as I was using them the following day. Otherwise, they could be taken from the bag and seared at once, for service.
I chose to make the sauce before searing the chicken as I felt it would have to be kept warm too long and that would defeat the sous vide cooking purpose – in my mind, at least.
Once the sauce was finished, it didn’t taste incredible. It was, according to my palate, “OK”. That would not do. My guests had arrived, and were visiting away. This was a simple recipe: lovely butter fried Cremini mushrooms, Marsala and chicken stock. I seasoned the sauce. Still no “wow” factor. Hmph! So, I got out some dried porcini mushrooms which always bring a wow factor to any mushroom dish, and reconstituted a full ounce of them. Added them to the sauce with the water (strained) that they had reconstituted in. Cooked it for a few more minutes and: WOW! This sauce was now knock your socks of nummy!
Time to plate the dish. I did that with another sous vide recipe that I made from Thomas Keller’s Under Pressure: Sous Vide Cooking titled: Soft Boiled Hen Egg with Green Asparagus, Crème Fraiche au Fines Herbs, and Butter Fried Croutons.
I was thrilled with the sauce recipe after I added the necessary porcini mushrooms, and the dish went over well.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHDR3dlH7E
Sous Vide Chicken Marsala Recipe from Cooking Sous Vide (I doubled it)
Ingredients:
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 or 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 cup flour
- 3 cups of sliced mushrooms like baby bella, crimini, oyster, or porcini
- ¾ cup Marsala wine
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
- 1 ounce dried Porcini mushrooms (my addition), reconstitured in 1/4 cub boiling water
Instructions:
- Pre-heat the water bath to 141F; lightly salt and pepper the rinsed and dried chicken breasts and place in a pouch
- Add thyme to the sous vide pouch and then seal; place in water bath and cook for 11/2to 2 hours
- Heat some oil in a sautépan over medium-high heat; remove breasts from bag, pat dry, dredge in flour and sear for about 1 minute per side (just enough time to develop some colour); I did not add the flour when I seared mine, and I seared them after the sauce was completely made
- Remove breasts and place somewhere warm
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and melt; add sliced mushrooms and fry until brown and releasing their liquid (about 4 to 6 minutes); I did mine in batches as I doubled the recipe
- Lower the heat to medium; add the Marsala wine to the pan and simmer for about 1 minute to cook out the alcohol, scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge the browned bits stuck there
- Add the chicken stock; simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the sauce; season to taste
- It was at this point that I added the dried porchini, and the liquid, and cooked it until the consistency you see in the photo (about 5 more minutes)
- Plate the breasts on top of some angel hair pasta; stir 2 tablespoons of butter into sauce and spoon evenly over the chicken breasts
- Sprinkle with Italian parsley and serve
Gulp! Gulp! So delicious is this that I am at a loss for words. So moist This chicken marsala is too tempting for words.
It is a joy to see the joy you are getting from your sous vide.
Awaiting new and plenty more adventures 🙂
Ciao,Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
That is a beautiful dish Valerie…DROOL! Love the mushroom sauce! Another great video as well. The sous vide chicken definitely looks more juicy and less dry and stringy. Actually, not dry and stringy at all. This may actually solve the problem I have with my hubby’s hate of white meat as he thinks they’re always too dry.
The chicken looks so tender and juicy! But you know what? I find the mushrooms extremely good here.
Thanks for writing up all of your experiments. Here is a tip: you can minimize the marks from the plastic pouch by first wrapping your breasts in regular plastic before enclosing them in the SV bag. Another way, if you have time or think of it ahead, is to freeze the meat first and then seal it in the Food Saver. Then, thaw it before putting it in the water oven. This also helps to make your food into a nicer shapes, such as a ballotin, etc. You can of course use this method for stuffing meat and poultry, as well.
It is my understanding that the SVS uses less electricity than a 60 watt light bulb uses over the same amount of time.
oh the mushroom sauce looks perfect and the chicken is calling my name, loveing all these recipes…
sweetlkife
Thanks for posts, especially the photos. Those are great. I have a quick question. I read in this post as well as the brisket post that you took the already cooked chicken (and brisket) from the fridge and just seared them to finish. You indicated that the sear on the brisket was 30 seconds (I’m not sure how long the chicken was seared for, but I guess it was only a minute ore so). My question is whether the chicken and brisket was warm enough for such a quick sear? I haven’t quick cooled meat to eat later, but it seems like this would be ideal, especially if you have a lot of guests to feed.
Thanks again!
Hi, Raydefan: I actually did take the brisket out of the fridge, but it was a very small piece… then let it sit to room temp (about 30 minutes) and seared it. It was hot through. I think the chicken came straight out of the sous vide… I will have to look that one up. But, with the ribs, right out of the sous vide and onto the grill. Timing is everything. With my duck confit, it takes only 2 minutes to heat a leg through (believe it) and it is already cooked, so I spend that time crisping the fat and letting the heat warm up the meat. Hope that helps!
🙂
Valerie