Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Madeira

(Please excuse this picture, taken before the sauce was perfected. You get the idea though)
This dish is the perfect meal for a special occasion like Valentines Day. It's a good hearty meal (get it Heart-y :) ha ha..) and it presents itself really well. However don't be intimidated by the ingredients like I was. I had never cooked with wine before and I was totally worried that it would turn out horrible, but if I can do it, anyone can do it! It was actually a pretty easy recipe, just a few more steps than usual but don't let that hold you back from something amazing, and not to mention it will really impress that special someone. (I changed the original recipe to my liking, this is the one you will find below)

Recipe:
For the Chicken:
4 Chicken breasts (flattened to about 1/4" thick)
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. Butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms (sliced)
1 1/2 cups Beef Broth
2 cups Madeira Wine (I bought the cheapest bottle of wine cause I didn't know any better and it tasted just fine. And I had to buy the wine at the liquor store. No grocery stores sold it.)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper


8 pieces of asparagus
4 slices of Fresh Mozzarella (I prefer to buy the balls of fresh mozzarella in the cheese section at the grocery store, the brand i used for this recipe was Precious)


Flatten the chicken breasts by pounding them till they are 1/4" thick. (Best way to do this is placing chicken breasts in a ziploc plastic bag and using a meat tenderizer or rolling pin)  Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil in the skillet and cook chicken 4-6 minutes on both sides till browned. Place chicken in tin foil and set aside. Next, place the remaining olive oil in the skillet and saute mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add in broth, wine, butter, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute then turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the asparagus for 3-5 mintues then immediately place the asparagus into a bowl of ice water. Turn your broiler on. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish, top each breast with 2 pieces of asparagus and a couple of slices of the fresh mozzarella. Place under broiler until the cheese begins to bubble. About 5 minutes. Add the 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch to the simmering sauce and whisk until the sauce begins to thicken. Spoon desired amount of sauce over top the chicken breast. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

3 comments:

  1. Yum! I love cooking with wine, they make the mushrooms taste so delicious! This looks really good :)

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  2. This looks delicious! This will make a great Valentine's dinner. How delicious....and asparagus is starting to appear in the market! Yum.

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  3. cheesecake factory is one of my faves! the one downfall is their portions are huge- this is perfect for making just the right amount

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