What Happened When I Mistook Marsala for Masala?

I saw a recipe for chicken marsala in one of my cookbooks and got super excited because I really love Indian food and tikka masala is my favorite.  But upon closer inspection I realized that there is an “R” in marsala and that it’s a wine, not a savory ass Indian dish. 

I could have abandoned the recipe all together, but since it looked pretty simple and I had most of the ingredience, I decided to go through with it.

All I needed to get from the market was a little tarragon. Please note at this time that prior to making this recipe, I had never ever cooked with tarragon.  Why didn’t anyone tell me about that foul ass herb? I guess I’ll never know.

Anyway, the recipe is below…we’ll discuss how it turned out in a moment.

Recipe: Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:

½ cup dry Marsala

1 teaspoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon dried tarragon

1/8 teaspoon salt

¼ cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 cups cooked angel hair pasta OR 1 small spaghetti squash baked.

4 (6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves)

Directions:

1. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese and garlic powder in a shallow dish and stir well.  Dredge chicken in mixture.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet, add chicken and cook 4 minutes on each side or until done.

3. Combine Marsala, cornstarch, tarragon and salt in a small pot and cook til hot.

Peep that sale I got on the tarragon...that wretched fucking tarragon.

Serve chicken over pasta and top with sauce.

It looks lovely doesn’t it? Well it wasn’t lovely.  It wasn’t lovely at all.  It was AWFUL.  I had no idea that tarragon tasted like stale Good N Plenty.  And I had the nerve to shovel that nasty ass black licorice juice all over my chicken and spaghetti squash.  I was able to eat the chicken, despite the terrible taste of the sauce.  But I had to throw out the squash in my bowl.  It couldn’t be salvaged.  I ended up using another sauce I had lying around in the fridge instead. So while I will probably be using breadcrumbs and parmesan to fry my chicken in the future, you couldn’t pay me to use tarragon again.  Actually, you could pay me to use it…just not to eat it.

Recipe inspiration found HERE.

After that disaster, I looked up a masala recipe and found a good one on Epicurious. And that recipe, thankfully, turned out amazing.

Recipe: Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 to 4 breast halves total)

¼ cup plain whole-milk Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice

1 large clove garlic, minced

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoons paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger (from 1-inch piece)

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 ½ cups canned tomato purée (see Cook's Notes for a fresh-tomato alternative)

¾ cup water

½ cup heavy cream or half-and-half

1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro plus additional sprigs for garnish

For serving:

Naan (Indian flatbread) and/or cooked Basmati Rice

Lo Note: You can use straight Masala seasoning instead of coriander, cumin, cardamom and nutmeg. 

Directions:

1. Combine yogurt, peanut oil, lime juice and garlic. Use a fork to prick the chicken breasts all over on both sides. Rub the marinade over the meat. Set the chicken aside while you make the sauce.

2. Combine the coriander, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne, and grated ginger and set aside.

3. In a heavy, wide 4-quart pot or sauté pan over moderately high heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until light brown and caramelized, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to moderate then stir in the spice and ginger mixture. Add the tomato purée, water, heavy cream, and salt, and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to gently simmer the sauce, uncovered, until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, as the sauce will burn if left on longer than 10 minutes.

4. Heat a skillet over high heat until very hot and add 1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil. Cook the chicken breasts, turning them a few times, until just cooked through and browned well on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cut it into 1 ½ -inch pieces.

5. Add the chicken to the sauce and return it to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the black pepper and chopped cilantro, and season with salt.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with naan or Basmati rice.

Recipe inspiration found HERE.

Through all of this I learned one very valuable lesson…tarragon is the devil. The end.

Follow us on Twitter @FlairHuxtable, Instagram @Flair.Huxtable and @HomeBrewedLove, and Facebook at @Flair Huxtable! Then buy Lo’s first book, “The Semester,” HERE!