Safe Sampling

I am making a variation on chicken Marbella with the ingredients I have in the house. Port in place of white wine, black olive taupinaude in place of green olives, white sugar in place of brown sugar. I wanted to taste the marinade since I had done so much improvising but I had already put the raw chicken breasts into it. So I took a few tablespoons of the marinade and put it in a tiny glass dish with a cover (preventing splatter) and heated it up in the microwave to cook it. Then it was safe to taste test it, adjust the recipe, and repeat. You can also heat the sample on the stove top or in the oven. Just be sure to bring it up to boiling and you're safe!