I have always loved Chicken Madeira whenever I go to Cheesecake Factory. My daughter took me there for mother’s day and I decided I had to find a way to make this at home and delete the dairy. Through guess work and taste testing, I pulled this together for dinner one night and it was a big hit. I made a large portion because I knew it would be eaten quickly, and I was hoping for some leftovers. You can feel free to cut the recipe down if you want to. Many recipe books talk about the importance of always making extra specifically so you can serve it again as lunch the next day or even freeze some for another time. It really does take the same amount of time and clean up to make larger batches. I have not tried to see if this freezes well because it disappeared with dinner and lunch. 
Madeira sauce is a little more time consuming due to the reduction. (There are many more time consuming versions that require demi- glace either homemade or commercial products. I went for a simple, yet tasty substitute.) I will try making a very large batch of sauce without the mushrooms to see if I can freeze it in order to speed the cooking process. We are not wine drinkers (or any alcohol for that matter), so I had to plan ahead to make sure I could find and purchase Madeira wine. I bought the least expensive I could find because I knew it would be used only for cooking. This is a “keeper” recipe for my family.
- Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. avocado oil
- 8 boneless skinless chicken breast (I have also used chicken thighs as well)
- Madeira Sauce
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 large red onion chopped
- 2 tbsp. avocado oil
- 3 cups Madeira wine s
- 2 cups beef stock (I have also used chicken bone broth or stock)
- 1 cup thick coconut cream (I use Trader Joe’s)
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp. ghee
- 2 tsp. thyme
- ¼ cup tapioca flour (optional as thickener if desired)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Instructions:
- Place each chicken breast in large Ziploc bag and pound with a meat hammer until a uniform thickness across the breast, about ¼ inch thick.
- Heat up 2 tablespoon avocado oil large skillet over medium heat
- Sauté the chicken fillets for 4 to 6 minutes per side, or until chicken has browned just a bit.
- Remove chicken fillets from the pan and place them together in covered dish to keep fillets warm while you make the sauce.
- (I cut breasts into smaller chunks because I prefer them that way)
- With heat still on medium, add two tablespoons of oil to the skillet.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and onions and sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Add Madeira wine, beef broth, butter and thyme.
- Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until sauce reduces to about one quarter of its original volume.
- When the sauce is done it will have thickened and turned a dark brown color.
- *Now is the time to add the tapioca flour if you prefer a thicker sauce.
- I add the chicken chunks to the sauce and heat through.
- - I serve this with asparagus sautéed in avocado oil and minced garlic and fried sweet potatoes and onions.
