Savory Sous-Vide - Chicken Marsala

We all have our culinary favorites, mainstays we've been making ever since we took up cooking in earnest. Some are dishes that are dear to our heart because they're ground zero for the start of our culinary skills. Others are ones we discovered along the way that we loved so much we latched onto them even if they arrived a little later. I've always been a fan of chicken dishes, both on the preparation as well as the savoring side of the equation.

You can bake, baste, grill, or prep your poultry in any number of combinations. Something I've always loved about chicken that red meat can't offer is how wonderfully it complements the accompanying sauce. Chicken truly takes on the character of whatever you choose to cook it with, and sometimes the deeper the immersion, the more fully the flavors emerge.

If you're looking for a method that pays deepest respect to all the complexities and character of your favorite sauce, I'd considering preparing your chicken sous vide style. A dish I've always returned to is Chicken Marsala, and it's one that perfectly takes advantage of what the sous vide method has to offer. Chicken Marsala typically combines chicken breast with a savory sauce made with a base of reduced sweet Maralas wine along with mushrooms and herbs.

One of the dish's many graces is its relatively simplicity. The flavor runs deep and rich, and the relatively simple ingredients have a chance to mesh in a way that draws them out stronger than they would ever be alone. The slow-cooking method that sous-vide provides makes the most of chicken Marsala's potential. It has the added benefit of tenderizing the chicken as well, nurturing a succulence that would otherwise be missed. Even in some of my best attempts, the chicken itself might come out tough or dry. Sous-vide, on the other hand, naturally tenderizes the chicken, with slow-cooking adding the graceful final touches.