Chicken Marbella
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One of the finest dishes ever to come out of the Silver Palate Cookbook, this chicken marbella is first marinated in oil, vinegar, capers, olives, prunes, and herbs, then baked with added brown sugar and white wine. While prunes and capers might seem like an odd combination, when cooked together with chicken they create a delectable sweet and sour, savory flavor. The original recipe calls for the chicken pieces to be marinated all night. We found that marinating for 5 hours worked fine.
Chicken Marbella Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 chickens, 2 1/2 lbs each, quartered
- 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed
- 2 Tbsp dried oregano
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup pitted prunes
- 1/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives
- 1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
Method
1 In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, several hours or overnight.
2 Preheat oven to 350°F.
3 Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.
4 Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).
5 With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Serve remaining juice in a gravy boat.
Serves 5.
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Thanks for reminding me of this recipe. I've made it several times, years ago, and it was really very good. I have several favorites from The Silver Palate Cookbook.