In The Italian Kitchen, acclaimed chef and cookbook author Marco Canora teaches viewers to cook classic Italian dishes. To start off his chicken recipes, Marco separates the breasts by removing the cartilage attaching them; he then peels off any tenderloins, leaving the breasts thin and manageable. He also cuts off excess fat and cartilage, and then slices each breast in half, creating two cutlets from each breast.
To make the Chicken Marsala, Marco begins by sautéing crimini mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil until they become golden. In another pan, he adds butter and olive oil. He places each cutlet in the flour, and when the butter in the pan takes on some color, he quickly coats the other side of the cutlet in the flour, pats off the excess, then puts the chicken in the pan. When the first side is golden, he flips the chicken and adds shallot, fresh rosemary, the cooked criminis, and a good amount of Marsala wine. (You want the heat to be high enough to cause the wine to sizzle and evaporate out most of the alcohol.) To finish the dish, he adds a little chicken stock and some more butter. When he shakes the pan, a beautiful pan sauce comes together.
For the Chicken Piccata, he once again has all of his ingredients ready to go: When you're cooking with cutlets, everything needs to happen quickly. He adds butter and olive oil to the pan, then adds floured cutlets. When their golden color indicates it's time to flip them, he adds fresh parsley, capers, shallot and white wine. (Again, here you want the wine to evaporate very quickly, so be sure you're cooking with enough heat.) To finish the sauce, he adds a squeeze of lemon, black pepper, a bit of broth and more butter. When he shakes the pan, the liquids emulsify into a rich, creamy sauce.
Recipes:
Chicken Marsala
Chicken Piccata