No steak; chicken. Hopefully, that will keep Interrupting Ghostcrawler at bay.
Chicken thighs! Why? Because dark meat is more flavorful than white. I have even convinced my formerly “chicken-breast ONLY” recipe-tester to admit that dark meat is awesome with this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine (use the same stuff you bought when you made my Chicken Marsala recipe)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1oz crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
- 1tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- bow-tie pasta, fo’shizzle, for ‘Lo! Bow-tie is the Best Pasta Evah.
Boil your salted pasta water.
Heat 2tbsp of olive oil in a large, stainless pan (do NOT use non-stick) on medium heat.
Start cooking your bow-tie pasta, set the timer for twelve minutes, and remember to come back and stir your pasta frequently.
Take the skin off the thighs and de-bone them. You don’t need to pound these flat as the de-boning process has done that already. Salt and pepper both sides, put them in the oil, cook both sides for three minutes per side. Don’t burn ‘em; if you are unsure, use your tongs and check the cooking-side of the meat to make sure they brown and not blacken. Once the thighs are cooked, removed them from the pan, put em on a plate, and cover with a piece of aluminum foil.
Stir your pasta. See? You forgot.
Add the mushrooms and use a wooden spatula to dislodge all the browned-bits stuck to the pan. Cook the mushrooms for two minutes, giving them lots of space. Don’t stack yer shrooms.
Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds.
Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Add the Marsala wine, let it reduce until half the liquid is gone.
Smell your house. Seriously. People should be coming out and asking what’s for dinner.
Stir your pasta, doofus!
Add the heavy cream, stir with that wooden spatula and keep scraping the bottom of the pan.
Add 3/4 oz of the Gorgonzola cheese and let it melt into the sauce. Stir and scrape.
When the cheese is totally melted, get a fresh spoon from your utensil drawer and taste the sauce. Don’t faint from the awesomeness, but add salt and pepper to taste. Remember that you can always add salt and pepper but you can’t take it out; go easy with the shakers, Chester.
Take the cooked chicken thighs and gently insert them into the sauce. Don’t drop ‘em; be gentle. Let them sit for a minute, then turn them.
Hopefully the pasta is done now. Drain and distribute on pretty plates. I like my blue, square plates!
Take a piece of chicken, turn it so it’s “pretty-side” is face up and place it on the pasta. Get a big spoon (no slots in that spoon!) and pour sauce on the chicken and the pasta. Sprinkle some Gorgonzola hither and yon, then dash with the fresh parsley.
Serve!! Bask in the glow of being a Chef.
Fresh parsley, yes. It’s $2 a bunch. Get some. Remove the leaves from the stems, about half a palm-full. I prefer my curved-blade chef’s knife. Watch your fingers! Hold the knife properly! Oh just watch.
That looks delish. Please note that a formal request has been filed for a daniel howell cooking show.
@tobi Agreed, daniel would be an awesome cooking personality.
you should try to get on the next food network star competition.
I can just see a bobby flay throwdown in the making.
for me, when it comes to cooking, I have delusions of adequacy.
This sounds awesome! I have some chicken thighs in my fridge right now. I think I’ll have a go at this.
I do have two suggestions, though. Cast iron pans are great for this kind of dish. They are non-stick but without the teflon. You still get the yummy browned bits and they come up nicely when deglazing.
Also, grow your own parsley. It’s wicked easy to do inside, right in your kitchen. It just needs light and water and then you’ll never have to pay that premium price again.
Holy cats! I am ridiculously full from the breakfast burritos we had about 45 minutes ago, and this STILL made me drool a little! Looking forward to trying it out. Also, bow-tie pasta absolutely IS the best pasta EVAH! We use it when we make my family’s version of Kapusta. Happy Friday!
Ya know you would make a good cooking show host with that sense of humor even I would watch it and the only cooking shows i rarely watch are……… well the one with the bald guy eats weird things and Anthony Bordains shows.
You should try tossing the pasta in the sauce for a minute before serving for enhanced delicious-ness!
Well…so much for that diet I was looking at. Man, that looks good!
I purposefully did not toss the pasta in the sauce because Gorgonzola is very strong. If you’ve never tried it, or don’t like pungent cheese, lightly-sauced pasta is the way to go. But if you are a fan of strong cheese, go right ahead and chunk the bow-tie goodness in the sauce!
/drool
A Daniel/BRK huntering/cooking/wine connoisseur podcast, and 80% of my entertainment needs would be met. I’m simple.
I think I have made every recipe you’ve blogged about. Maybe not as impressive as the year of Julia, but hey, we all have to start somewhere…
keep the stalks for actual cooking, it brings alot more flavor to the dish..
Ciao..
Yummy!!
I’m making that tonight! Although my girlfriend hates the creamy sauce, so I guess she’ll have it dry lol
P.S. I’m diggn those plates!
Yum. I will have to try that.
Fresh parsley may be $2 a bunch, but it is also $2 for a pot (i.e. it keeps growing more), or $1 for a packet of seeds. You can’t have too much.
but, but, but… steak?
that does look yummy though
::mouth watering::
I’m hungry…
IF you’re even bothered IIRC the correct name for bow-tie pasta is Farfalle and yes, it does sound like a Pokemon…
You do know they sell boneless, skinless chicken thighs right? That saves loads of time, and may get others that may be squeamish deboning raw chicken to try this recipe. I love the thighs for grilling and whatever most would use chicken breasts for.
Ah, I love creamy sauces and actually hubby made a Gorgonzola sauce a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t take much to enhance the flavor thats for sure. A little Gorgonzola goes a long way.
Cream, garlic, Gorgonzola, butter, Reggiano Parmesan with prosciutto over gnocchi…how can you go wrong
*drooling*
Hey Daniel,
Although I hate Gorgonzola, I otherwise loved the look of that recipe and might try it out. Can you suggest a cheese other than Gorgonzola that I could use instead?
While I’m asking questions, let me throw this one out there. Do you have any kind of pasta recipe that uses Mozzerella cheese. I have 8 yr old twins and a 3 yr old. They all LOVE pasta and Mozzerella. I could certainly envision a scenario in which the wife views me as something of a hero for coming up with an alternative to frozen food for dinner again. Thanks.
I’d love to see Don Diego de la Vega move to Italy – then we’d have Gorgonzorro!