Chicken marsala with parmesan polenta

Halve each breast tip to tip and pound each half flat in a freezer bag with a heavy bottom saucepan, about 20 medium pressure slaps, for eight thin cutlets.

Salt both sides generously and leave 10 to 15 minutes as a dry brine.

Combine the Marsala, chicken stock, gelatin and dried mushrooms in a saucepan and bring to a hard boil.

Drop to medium and reduce by 50 to 60% while it infuses, about 20 minutes.

Dry toast the polenta in a medium saucepan over high heat about two minutes of near-constant stirring, until it smells like fresh popcorn.

Add the box of stock and the salt and whisk; as it thickens drop to medium low and cook 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every minute with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom.

Lid on and off the heat to keep hydrating.

Strain the reduction through a fine mesh strainer, squeezing the mushrooms; discard them.

Dredge the cutlets one at a time in the flour and shake off anything excessive.

In a hot 12 inch saute pan with a very generous squeeze of olive oil, fry four cutlets about two minutes, flip, and about one minute on the back, until lightly golden; repeat with the second four.

Over medium high add more olive oil, the sliced mushrooms and a strong pinch of salt; sizzle off their water and saute four to five minutes until tender and coloured, down to about a quarter of their volume.

Crisp the diced bacon in the same pan, lift it out with a slotted spoon into the mushroom bowl, and drain off about 75% of the fat.

Saute the onion one to two minutes until softened and caramelizing at the edges.

Add the garlic, tomato paste and oregano and fry until the garlic is fragrant and the paste is rusty.

Deglaze with a generous glug of fresh Marsala, add the Worcestershire, and reduce about a minute until sticky and glazed.

Add the reduced marsala mushroom stock, scrape the pan and bring to a simmer.

Snug the cutlets into the sauce and baste them for about one minute; move them to a warm 9x13 baking dish.

Return the bacon and mushrooms to the sauce, loosen with a few splashes of stock, swirl in the cold butter to emulsify, and fold in the parsley.

Reheat the polenta with 200 to 400 grams of stock by eye, stir in the butter, then the parmesan over very low heat until silky.

Plate a dollop of polenta, a saucy cutlet, and garnish with the reserved sauce, mushrooms and bacon.