MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Fricasséed Chicken with Dried Porcini Mushrooms And Marsala
 Categories: Chicken, Italian
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      1 oz Imported dried porcini
           -mushrooms
  3 1/2 lb Chicken; cut into 8 pieces
      2 oz Flour; for coating the
           -chicken
      2 tb Vegetable oil
    1/2 oz Butter
           Salt
           Black pepper; freshly ground
      3 tb Onion; chopped
      3 oz Dry Marsala wine
 
  This is a dish you can cook right to the end, but without spooning
  off any fat, several hours or even a day in advance. When ready to
  serve, warm the chicken in a covered frying pan over slow heat,
  adding a little water if it seems necessary. Spoon off any free
  excess fat from the pan when the chicken is hot, just before serving.
  
  Soak the mushrooms in 2 c barely warm water for at least 30 minutes.
  Lift out the mushrooms by hand, squeezing out as much water as
  possible, letting it flow back into the container in which they
  soaked. Rincse the reconstituted mushrooms in several changes of
  fresh water. With the tip of a small paring knife scrape clean any
  place where soil appears to be still embedded. Pat dry with kitchen
  paper towels and chop them very finely. The water in which the
  mushrooms soaked is richly infused with porcini flavor. To clear it
  of the soil that has become deposited in it, filter it through a
  strainer lined with single-ply kitchen paper, collecting it in a bowl
  or jug. Set aside.
  
  Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly, and pat them as dry as you can
  using either kitchen paper or a tea towel. Spread the flour on a
  plate and turn the chicken in it.
  
  Choose a frying pan or saute pan that can accommodate all the chicken
  pieces in a single layer without overlapping, put in the oil and
  butter, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the butter foam
  begins to subside, slip in the chicken. When all the pieces have
  become well browned on onse side, add salt, black pepper and the
  chopped onion, and turn the pieces over.
  
  When the chicken has become browned all over and the onion has become
  coloured a rich gold, add the Marsala wine, let it bubble briskly for
  just a few seconds, add the chopped porcini mushrooms, turn the
  ingredients over with a wooden spoon, then cover the pan and turn
  down the heat to medium low.
  
  Cook the chicken at a slow, but regular simmer, replenishing the
  cooking juices whenever they begin to dry out with 2 or 3 tb of the
  filtered water from the mushroom soak. Turn the chicken pieces over
  every once in a while and continue cooking until they feel very
  tender when prodded with a fork and the meat looks as though it would
  easily fall off the bone, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. The cooking
  juices should have condensed into a small amount of creamy sauce. If
  there is too much fat flowing free, tip the pan and spoon it off.
  Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve
  at once.
  
  Recipe by Marcella Cucina by Marcella Hazan, 1997
 
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