♪ Happy Birthday Dear Neicey, Happy Birthday to YOU!!! ♪

Today my cousin, Denise celebrates her 44th birthday… we call her Neicey and she looks like she’s 24!!! She informed me last week that Chicken Marsala is her all-time favorite meal and asked me if I would share my recipe with her boyfriend, Chris who was planning on making it for her birthday dinner. Most of my recipes are either in my head or jotted down on one of the 500 yellow stickies that I have splattered everywhere and this one was no exception. Because I love her so much and I wasn’t there to make it for her myself, I needed to insure that Chris would be able to make it PERFECT! I spent extra time rummaging around in my brain to make certain to include every step until I was confident that he would be able to easily reproduce this mouthwatering symphony of flavors… it had to be PERFECT!!!

Last night, Chris and Neicey’s children prepared Triple Mushroom Chicken Marsala using my recipe. After the meal, she sent me a text telling me how great it tasted. I thought that I’d feel a sense of pride somehow because it was MY recipe but that’s not what I felt at all… I read her words and all I could feel was the warmth, caring, tenderness and love that her family put into the entire evening; they could have served her corn flakes and she would have been just as happy. It wasn’t the food… it was the people and the love that they share; the food was just the one ingredient that gathered them together. I am a happy girl! May God bless you and may this recipe bring you all together…

Triple Mushroom Chicken Marsala


8 or 10 Boneless Chicken Breasts (pounded or thin fillets)
Flour (enough to coat chicken)
4 Large Eggs
1/3 Cup Milk
Vegetable Oil for frying
2 Pkgs. Brown Gravy Mix (dry)
1 Cup Cold Water
1 of Stick Butter
2 Cans Beef Broth
1/3 Bottle (or more to taste) Marsala Wine
Dash or two of Worcestershire Sauce
White Mushrooms (sliced)
Cremini Mushrooms (sliced)
Shitake Mushrooms (sliced)
Salt & pepper
Large handful of Parsley

Make sure that chicken breast cutlets are pretty thin. Pour flour onto a plate; adding more as needed. Dredge chicken cutlets in the flour making sure to coat each piece completely. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs & the milk together. Pour enough oil in a frying pan to amount to 1 inch. Heat oil over medium high heat. When the oil is very hot, take a floured piece of chicken, dip it in the egg mixture and place it in the hot oil. You will only need to cook each piece for about 1 minute; turning once until the batter starts to brown (first piece sometimes does not brown). Repeat this process until all chicken pieces have been battered. Drain onto a paper towel lined baking dish.

Place the water into a medium saucepan; turn on heat to medium low. Whisk in the packages of gravy mix and stir until all lumps are gone and gravy starts to thicken. Add the stick of butter & stir until melted. When butter is melted, add the broth, Marsala wine and the Worcestershire sauce. Continue to stir until mixture starts to bubble then turn off the heat.

Remove paper towels from the baking pan and stack the chicken at an angle like a row of dominos that has been tipped over. Pour all sliced mushrooms on top of the chicken. Pour the gravy mixture over the chicken & mushrooms. Sprinkle lots of parsley on the top. Cover with foil and bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes (sauce should be simmering). Remove foil and serve immediately. This chicken will melt in your mouth... ENJOY!