1 tablespoon olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets

8 asparagus spears

4 mozzarella cheese slices

Madeira Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

3 cups Madeira wine

2 cups beef stock

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place chicken breasts between plastic wrap and pound to ¼-inch thickness; season with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in sauté pan; add chicken and sauté 4 to 6 minutes per side, until lightly browned; remove from pan and wrap in foil to keep warm.

Prepare Madeira sauce: Using the same pan, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and heat; add mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes. Add Madeira wine, stock, butter and pepper; bring to boil, reduce heat; simmer about 20 minutes or until sauce has reduced to ¼ of its original volume and is a dark brown color.

Meanwhile, bring a half saucepan of water to a boil; add salt; return to boil; add asparagus and boil 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. The asparagus should be cooked crisp-tender.

Transfer cooked chicken to baking pan; top with mozzarella cheese and broil 3 to 4 minutes or until light brown spots begin to appear on the cheese.

To serve, arrange 2 breasts on each plate, top each with 4 asparagus spears and spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of Madeira sauce over each.

4  Servings