MENU DESCRIPTION: “Fire-roosted chicken breast topped with mushrooms, prosciutto and our Florio Marsala wine sauce.” To reverse-engineer this big-time favorite entree, I ordered the dish to go, with the sauce on the side, so that I could separately analyze each component. After some trial and error in the underground lab, I found that recreating the secret sauce from scratch is easy enough with a couple small cans of sliced mushrooms, a bit of prosciutto, some Marsala wine, shallots, garlic and a few other good things. Cooking the chicken requires a very hot grill. The restaurant chain grills chicken breasts over a blazing real wood fire, so crank your grill up high enough to get the flames nipping at your cluckers (no, that’s not an euphemism). If your grill has a lid, keep it open so you can watch for nasty flare-ups.

SERVES 4.

INGREDIENTS

FOR MARSALA SAUCE:

• ⅓ cup butter
• 1 slice prosciutto, diced
• 2 teaspoons minced shallots
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 4-ounce cans sliced mushrooms (drained)
• ¼ cup Marsala wine
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

FOR CHICKEN SEASONING:

• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley
• ¼ teaspoon marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• 4 skinless chicken breasts fillets
• Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt butter over low heat in a medium saucepan.
2. Turn heat up to medium/high to saute the prosciutto in the melted butter for about 2 to 3 minutes (be careful not to burn the butter).
3. Add shallots and garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.
4. Add Marsala wine, simmer for another 30 seconds or so, then add drained mushrooms and black pepper.
5. Simmer over medium/high heat for 5 minutes.
6. Dissolve cornstarch in chicken broth. Add broth to the saucepan and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
7. Add parsley and cream to the sauce and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until thick.
8. Remove pan from the heat, then cover it until needed.
9. Preheat barbecue grill on high heat.
10. Combine ingredients for chicken seasoning in a small bowl. Use your thumb and fingers to crush the herbs and spices in the bowl to make a finer blend.
11. Wrap each chicken breast in plastic wrap and pound with a kitchen mallet until uniform in thickness.
12. Brush each chicken breast generously with olive oil.
13. Sprinkle seasoning blend over both sides of each chicken breast and grill for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until done. Give chicken a one-quarter turn on each side while cooking to make criss-cross grill marks.
14. Serve entree by arranging each chicken breast on a plate.
15. Spoon one quarter of the Marsala sauce over each serving of chicken and enjoy.