I first tried Chicken Marbella—chicken roasted in a briny, sweet blend of prunes, olives, capers, oregano, and garlic—at my boyfriend's family's Passover a few years ago. It blew my mind. The recipe has an interesting history—it's from the lauded Silver Palate Cookbook, which revolutionized New American cooking in the early '80s, popularizing things like pesto, arugula, and pancetta. Chicken Marbella in particular became an iconic dish, served at dinner parties, potlucks, and eventually Seder dinners. It's especially perfect if you need to prep an entrée in advance.
The original recipe is phenomenal, but it's designed to serve a crowd and is also super heavy. So I adapted it to serve two (with leftovers, which are ah. ma. zing.), and lightened it up by reducing the sugar by a ton, mixing in chicken breasts, and tweaking ingredient ratios a bit.
Even if you're a child, or a hapless adult who doesn't care for prunes, olives, or capers, I think you might still love this dish; it is far greater than the sum of its parts.
LIGHTER CHICKEN MARBELLA
Adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook
SERVINGS: 3-4 | TIME: 1.5 hours, but needs to marinate overnight
WHAT YOU NEED
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ cup pitted prunes
- ⅓ cup pitted Spanish green olives
- ¼ cup capers, with a little juice
- 3 bay leaves
- ½ head of garlic (~5-8 cloves), peeled and puréed (food processor makes fast work of this)
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of freshly ground pepper
- 3-4 pounds of chicken—thighs (especially skin-on) are best but you can mix in a couple of breasts to lighten it up
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
HOW TO MAKE IT
- In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper. (Not the sugar—that's for later!) Add the chicken pieces and make sure they're fully coated. Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken in a single layer, skin-side up, in a roasting pan (or casserole dish—whatever you have). Mix wine into marinade; spoon marinade over chicken evenly. Sprinkle the chicken with brown sugar.
- Bake for 50 minutes, basting the chicken once or twice with pan juices (but try not to brush the sugar off the chicken tops). For the last 5-7 minutes of cooking time, you can turn the broiler on to get the chicken skins crispy (but if you're using skinless chicken, don't bother broiling).
- If you have a meat thermometer: breasts are done when the center of the thickest part is at 150. Thighs are done at 170. (So if the breasts reach 150 before the thighs reach 170, just take the breasts out of the oven early.)
- Transfer the chicken pieces to a serving platter and top with prunes and olives.
- Take the pan juices and strain them into a small saucepan. (Dump what's in the strainer—capers, garlic bits, etc.—onto the chicken.) Then boil the juices on medium heat until the sauce is reduced by at least 50%—it should be viscous like a sauce, not watery.
- Remove juices/sauce from heat and mix in chopped parsley. Pour over chicken, and eat yourself into a coma.
*Leftovers should be gently reheated in the oven.