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4 Star Chicken "Marsala"

"Had this at a 4 star restaurant in my teens. Loved it so much, Mom got the recipe from the chef so she could make it for me. It has become a favorite of my kids, too. Now they know how to make it! This is not your lite chicken Marsala variety! Serve with oven-warmed French bread."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 10,839 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. The science ↓

The recipe

4 servings
Prep15 min
Cook25 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Season the pounded chicken breasts on both sides with salt and black pepper. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

  2. Cook the chicken 4 to 5 minutes per side until golden and cooked through to 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part. Transfer to a baking dish.

  3. Lower the heat to medium, add the minced garlic to the skillet and cook 1 minute until fragrant.

  4. Pour in the white Zinfandel and simmer 3 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the pan.

  5. Stir in the heavy cream and capers and simmer 3 to 4 minutes until slightly thickened.

  6. Stir the cornstarch into the water until smooth, add to the sauce and simmer 1 to 2 minutes until thick. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

  7. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and arrange the mozzarella slices on top. Bake at 400°F (205°C) for 4 to 5 minutes until the cheese melts.

  8. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve hot.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Chicken + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,839 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  2. Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together23,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Olive + mozzarella cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,723 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  4. Parsley + caperstop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,550 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together9,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the capers

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, olive, chicken, mozzarella cheese, parsley, garlic, wine):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Basilbetter flavor fit
  3. Rosemarybetter flavor fit
  4. Capersthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, olive, chicken, mozzarella cheese, parsley, garlic, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).