Mushrooms soak up flavor of Marsala sauce

We love the Chicken Marsala at Cibo e Beve in Sandy Springs with its moist chicken, mushrooms and luxurious sauce. Even my husband, who isn’t a fan of mushrooms, enjoyed these mushrooms when they soaked up the flavor of that delicious sauce. How do they make it? — Emily Smith, Vinings

Executive chef Linda Harrell of Cibo e Beve was happy to share this recipe and a tip for ensuring moist chicken. The restaurant serves only chicken from Springer Mountain Farms and it’s brined for at least six hours so it doesn’t dry out when cooked. Harrell says the other secret is the Marsala they use. “If you can find it, use Florio sweet Marsala wine. It’s the best and I’ve been using it for years.”

After years of making its own demi-glace, the restaurant now purchases it to get a more consistent product. Your grocer may carry small containers of Better than Gourmet French DemiGlace in the soup aisle.

You can find Florio sweet Marsala wine at Buckhead Tower Beer, Wine & Sprits and select Total Wine & More locations.

At both Cibo e Beve and its sister restaurant Toscano Ristorante Italiano at Atlantic Station, the chicken is plated over whipped potatoes and served with baby spinach sauteed with olive oil and garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper, then topped with the mushrooms and sauce. Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of ” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.