Chicken Marsala

Knowing that Traveling Man was going to be home today, I was wanting to cook something with a slight hint of specialness,  but didn't take too long to cook. Chicken Marsala -hadn't cooked this before but I wish I had as it fitted the bill perfectly.   First I had to find the Marsala...In my mind, I could more or less  go the right area in Tescos to find it immediately - Tescos being the supermarket of choice back in the UK - where you can get everything from an apple to a bank account to ...yes Marsala wine! Not so much here...supermarket or liquor store?? Turns out it was the market,but the recipe called for "sweet Marsala " ...not easy to find. Ended up buying a bottle which stated it was "not too dry and not too sweet" -what does that mean??
  Enough of my rantings, here's the recipe -I urge you to give this a go.....



1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 chicken breasts
3 tbsp extra virgin Olive oil
3 oz diced bacon
4 cloves of crushed garlic.
1 small shallot chopped fine
1 3/4 cup SWEET Marsala
1 teasp tomato paste
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp parsley

Preheat oven to 200

Pound the chicken out in between some greaseproof paper so its nice and thin and will cook evenly-the teenager likes to do this,I think he thinks he is a cave man...Dry the chicken and dredge with the flour and  a touch of salt and pepper ( I like the TV chef trick of putting the chicken and seasoned flour all in a ziploc bag and throwing it around a bit to get the dredging done with out distributing flour all over the kitchen floor ....) Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a saute pan -or similar- and fry the chicken until its starting to turn a golden color on both side-approx 5 mins each side.  Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm in the oven whilst you complete the sauce.
Cook the chopped bacon the same pan until its crisp,then add the shallot and garlic and cook for a further 3- 4 mins.  Add the Marsala and then let the sauce reduce for 10 minutes,by which time the sauce will be syrupy and about half of the quantity you started off with .  Add the chopped parsley( I used the flat leaf sort) and the lemon juice-check seasoning and add the chicken with any accumulated chicken juices back into it. Serve and enjoy!!

I  asked Traveling man what he thought of my "creation" and he said..."it made me forget about my cold for 10 minutes...." is this a positive comment?? Maybe  you could help me out on that one... the teenager emitted his usual grunts and hand  gestures which we have come to realise means "great Mum thanks". I thought it tasted fab and easy enough for a week night( easily on the table in 45 mins) but also fancy enough to entertain with .