Chicken Marbella - Silver Palate

By CorbettCook

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.

Ingredients

• 4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered
• 1 head garlic, peeled and finely pureed
• 1/4 cup dried oregano
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup pitted prunes
• 1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
• 1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley or fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, combine chicken quarters, garlic, oregano, pepper and coarse salt to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice, and bay leaves. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

Bake 50–60 minutes, basting frequently with pan juices. Chicken is done when juices run clear.

With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with a few spoonfuls of pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Pass remaining pan juices in a gravy boat.

To serve cold, cool to room temperature in cooking juices. Before transferring to a serving platter, if chicken has been refrigerated, allow it to return to room temperature before serving. Spoon some of reserved juice over chicken.