Sous Vide Chicken Marsala

For the Sous Vide Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1 or 2 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

For Finishing Chicken Marsala

1 cup flour

Olive oil

3 cups sliced mushrooms (baby bella, crimini, oyster, or porcini)

3/4 cup Marsala wine

3/4 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

At least 2.5 to 4 hours before serving

Pre-heat the water bath to 141F. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts and place in a pouch. Add the thyme to the sous vide pouch and then seal them. Place the chicken breasts in the water bath and cook for around 1½ to 2 hours.

For Finishing the Chicken Marsala

The rest of the sous vide chicken marsala is made in the usual manner. Heat some olive oil in a sauté pan over high heat.

Remove the sous vide chicken breasts from the pouch, pat them dry with a paper towel or dish cloth. Dredge them in the flour and then quickly sear the chicken breasts for about 1 minute per side, just enough time to develop some color. Remove and place somewhere warm.

In the pan that you seared the chicken in, add 1 tablespoon of butter and melt on medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and sauté until they begin to brown and release their liquid, about 4 to 6 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium and add the Marsala wine to the pan. 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 to the pan. Let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the sauce. Normally you would add the chicken back into the pan to help it finish cooking but since we sous vided the chicken it is unnecessary.

Put the sous vided and seared chicken breasts onto individual plates. Stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the sauce. Then spoon the mushrooms and Marsala sauce evenly over the chicken breasts. Sprinkle the Italian parsley over the top and serve.

The sous vide chicken marsala is great when coupled with a warm baguette and some angel hair pasta to soak up all the great sauce. Asparagus or steamed broccoli also goes very well.