"although it looks luxurious, it's actually quick and easy to cook."
Delia Online Team
No it's not. The comment that I have written at the bottom of this recipe in Delia Smith's Winter Collection, is "too much faff for a disappointing result." Mind you whether that was my fault, the fault of the Boronia Marsala that I used or the mushrooms I'm not quite sure. I gave it three stars because, of course it was not a complete failure but not a success either.
And herewith a note on the photograph which is pretty awful. Well perhaps not the photograph, more the presentation. And here I shall complain a little bit more about Delia - not something I usually do.
There is no photograph in the book, you just have to rely on her advice as to how to serve the dish:
"To serve, unwrap each parcel onto a plate and cut each one into 4 pieces - at an angle to show the stuffing. Then pour the sauce over each one and serve straight away."
Which is what I did and doesn't it look awful? However, on her website - which I foolishly did not look at before I did all this, there is this photograph. Clearly they have either poured the sauce on to the plate first (a much better idea) or poured it around the chicken. Definitely not over it. Also their sauce is obviously much thinner than mine, and I have to wonder why because my sauce was thinned down with more Marsala/Boronia wine, as she suggests, some water and even a touch of vinegar - which I shall come to. Clearly, as a so-called experienced cook - if only in the sense of 'experienced' meaning long-term - I should have realised that all was not going to go well with pouring it over the top.
I also had a look online to see what others had achieved and found this from Noodle's Note, which is probably closer to what I was trying to achieve. Maybe I had too many mushrooms? I think this person has indeed followed Delia's advice and poured the sauce over the top, but their sauce is runnier and so there's just the colour and a few mushrooms on top. You can see the chicken rather than gloopy mushrooms.
Presentation is secondary though, and largely my fault. Although, this is perhaps where having a picture might have helped.
But before I go on with my woes, let me tell you how I got to be making this dish anyway.
This is a 'guru' week, by which I mean a week when I make something new from a book from one of my old-time gurus. I alternate the weeks between something completely new to something from a 'guru'. I have worked my way through a second round of my original gurus, so am now on to my mid-term gurus, beginning with Delia.
The first time around I chose her Summer Collection, so this time, since it's winter I chose her Winter Collection. Over the years I have made lots of things from this book, some of which have become regulars in our house, but I was determined to try something new. It's how we learn after all isn't it? As Delia herself says in her introduction to the Soup chapter.
"But what I want people to know is that the whole subject of food and cooking never loses its fresh edge; new ideas are always popping up through travel, friends and discovering new ingredients."
To which I would add, rediscovering favourite cookbooks and finding something new there too.
And I found plenty to tempt me - here are some that I bookmarked, and which maybe I should have chosen instead: Pepper crusted monkfish with red pepper relish; Oven-baked wild mushroom risotto - this particular recipe has been recommended to me by others so I was tempted; Meatballs in goulash sauce and A bit of Irish stew with crusted dumplings - a true comfort meal, and now I think I should have gone with that. Delia's version was classic but not quite. And she is right in saying "Irish stew is one of the best casserole dishes in the entire world." Robert Carrier says the same thing.
Back to the things that were wrong, some of which, I confess, may be due to compromises I made.
The mushrooms. I was supposed to use porcini mushrooms for the stuffing - well along with chopped open mushrooms. I thought I had some porcini stored away in my reserve drawer, but when I came to look I found only girolles, morels and wild forest. So I went for the wild forest thinking that they would be closest. But they probably weren't. I don't think they had such a strong taste. But that might, in fact, have been a good thing. My open mushrooms were pretty large and so it was difficult to get one small enough to meet the required weight. Ditto for the streaky bacon, which I had to substitute for pancetta - but she did suggest this anyway. Then for the sauce, I had the same problem weight wise - and I used the open mushrooms rather than the 'small' mushrooms she listed. So yes, there may have been too many mushrooms in the sauce, although I don't think that really mattered.
The marsala. This is what I used for the marsala. It is an Australian marsala which I bought the last time I bought marsala - from a small Liquorland near our Coles supermarket. They did not have any Italian marsala, which I had previously used. Now I have no reason to say that this is no good. I am not an expert on such things, but I do know that Italian marsala comes in varying degrees of sweetness, and this was sweet. When I tasted the sauce - I am trying to be better about tasting - it tasted too sweet, and so I added a little bit of vinegar, which, it seemed to me improved things. Why vinegar? Well recently I saw somebody say that a touch of vinegar - or pickling juice - was often a really good idea. Like lemon juice. The vinegar was nearer to hand than the lemons and easier, so I went for that.
Another thing about the sauce was its gloopiness, which I put down to the flour - admittedly a very small amount - which Delia told me to stir in. I don't think it needs it.
Time and difficulty. 'Quick and easy to cook' it most definitely was not. Certainly not for a beginner. This is one of those recipes you need to read through to realise that once you have stuffed your chicken breasts you have to chill them for at least an hour. This could be a problem if you hadn't read it through, although actually I do wonder if it was necessary. Also there was a lot of chopping small and slippery things, and a lot of sautéing and wondering whether you were at the right stage or not. Then she didn't tell you to bash the breast out to be fairly thin. I did because I knew I wouldn't be able to roll up an unwashed one. And that's always tricky anyway. And my stuffing was definitely not 'a thick mushroom paste' - it was a collection of tiny pieces of mushrooms, onion and bacon - Ok but not a paste. Maybe I was too impatient. And another note for those who don't read the recipe through - you then have to cool this completely. Still on time - when you did cook the chicken you had to do so for a mere twenty minutes, and then rest for ten - all the time wrapped in it's foil parcel, so you couldn't check whether it was done or not. Mine wasn't - bits of it were not cooked through, but I only discovered this once it had been sliced - a bit late in the day. So I'm recommending 30 minutes. We actually put the most undercooked bits back in the cooling oven for a while. Not good if you are cooking this for guests.
'Easy to cook'? Not for a beginner, or even an unconfident cook like me. It seemed to take ages - my neck and shoulders were aching at the end of it - but then I am old, old, old. And no real way of testing whether your chicken was done or not.
I don't think I have ever had a disappointment in cooking a Delia recipe, so I am still blaming myself - mostly for using the wrong marsala I think. I shall not be trying this again I think. I was looking for winter comfort because:
"surely it is in Winter that food comes into our lives with an even sharper focus because it's then that we all need to be warm, cosy and comforted." Delia Smith
Tonight I'm sticking to a tried and true quiche.