What does Chicken Marsala Pizza Taste Like?
Salty is one of the five main tastes. It has a satisfying and addictive quality with hints of sourness. Salty foods include cheeses, cured meats, chips, and olives. It is used in almost every dish and prepared food. Salt is added to enhance flavor and offer a distinctly salty taste.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Ingredients
Chicken breast is meat from the chest/breast area of a chicken. It is a larger piece of meat and slightly flat. When raw the meat is pink and slippery. It must be cooked before consuming. Chicken breast can be cooked using a variety of methods, including grilling, roasting and baking. When chicken is cooked it turns off white, has a tender texture with some chew and a flavor that is mild, meaty and savory.
Chicken broth is commonly used in soups and stews as the liquid. It is made by simmering chicken bones with water, vegetables and seasonings. The thin broth is a golden color with a savory taste that has hints of chicken, vegetables and salt. Chicken broth can be used for many dishes aside from soup.
Heavy cream has a high fat content, giving it extra flavor and richness. The cream usually comes from cow's milk and generally floats to the top of milk, from which it can be skimmed. The cream is cream colored, or a pale golden color. The texture is thicker than milk with a flavor that is mild, rich and creamy. Heavy cream is used to make whipped cream and many desserts.
Pizza dough is what pizza crust is created from. It is a yeast leavened mixture of wheat flour, water, oil and any additional ingredients. This dough is smooth, moist and pliable. It holds together easily without breaking, during the process of stretching the dough for crust. It has an off white color and wheaty smell. Once baked, pizza crust becomes has crunchy edges and a firm, yet soft texture. The flavor is similar to the smell and tastes mild.
Cremini Mushrooms, also called Baby Bella mushrooms, are immature portobello mushrooms. They are dark brown with a smooth, rounded cap. Their flavor is deep and earthy. Whole or sliced, they can be used raw in salads or sautéed or grilled and served with omelets, pasta or as a side dish with meats.
Marsala is a type of fortified wine used mainly in cooking. Dry marsala is used in savory dishes and sweet marsala is used in making desserts. Marsala is a dark red color with flavors of vanilla, apricot, tobacco and brown sugar. Marsala varies in color from gold, amber and ruby. Gold being the driest and ruby being the sweetest. Marsala adds a rich depth of flavor to any dish that it is added to.
The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
Parmesan, also called Parmigiano-Reggiano is a type of aged cow's milk cheese. Parmigiano-Reggiano must be made in Italy and is the authentic real deal. Parmesan is extremely similar, but made outside of Italy and may use slightly different methods, depending on the maker and brand. Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano is aged for an average of two years and comes in a wheel shape that is cut into smaller wedges. It has a golden color and a texture than is hard and grainy. The flavor is intense, salty and extremely umami. It perks up many savory food items.
Olive oil is extracted from the fresh olive, which grows on a tree. Many olives are needed in the extraction of the oil. This is done by a mechanical process and sometimes by a chemical process, though the mechanical method is highly preferred. Olive oil is a golden color and changes slightly due to whether it is extra virgin, or first cold pressed. The flavor of olive oil depends on how it was processed. Lower quality oils will taste mild, while high quality olive oils will have a robust flavor that is green, or may have a spicy quality. Extra virgin and first cold pressed or preferred. Olive oil lends a depth of flavor to any savory dish.
Parsley is an aromatic herb with slender green stalks and sturdy, small green leaves. There are two common types of parsley, curly parsley and Italian flat leaf parsley. Italian parsley has a more robust flavor than curly parsley. Though each type tastes green, spicy and vegetal, with a hint of bitterness. Parsley is used as and herb to flavor dishes and as a garnish.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
