Chicken Marbella
Chicken Marbella is one of those dishes I’ve made so many times that I feel like I could make it in my sleep. It’s an easy one-dish recipe that is full of wonderful flavours reminiscent of a Moroccan tagine.
The 1st time I made Chicken Marbella was in my early twenties. I had just moved into a new apartment and received a copy of the Silver Palate Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso as a housewarming gift. For the inaugural dinner party in my new place, I decided to try their Chicken Marbella.
The contrast of the sweetness from the prunes with the briny saltiness of the olives and capers made it seem a bit exotic and much more sophisticated than anything else in my cooking repertoire at the time.
It was a big hit, and has remained in my recipe rotation ever since.
For my version of Chicken Marbella I’ve made a few minor tweaks to the original over the years. The main change is the level and type of sweetness. I still use brown sugar, but quite a bit less than the original recipe. Instead, I like to use some pomegranate molasses. The pomegranate molasses still adds sweetness to the dish, but it’s a more complex sweet-sour flavour that I find less cloying then using all brown sugar.
Chicken Marbella is a perfect dish for entertaining as all the work is done ahead of time, then the chicken just marinates away until it’s time to add the wine and pop it in the oven, leaving you free to enjoy your guests!
Once the chicken is cooked to a beautiful golden brown everything is simply transferred to a warm serving platter.
I don’t bother to reduce the pan juices, but if you prefer a slightly thicker sauce the juices can be reduced on the stove top and then poured back over the chicken.
I like to serve my Chicken Marbella with couscous and some warm flatbread to soak up all the wonderful pan juices.
If you don’t have a copy of the Silver Palate Cookbook, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s full of recipes with interesting ingredients and flavour combinations and still one of my favorite cookbooks today.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 50 ml olive oil
- 50 ml red wine vinegar
- 120 grams pitted prunes cut into halves
- 100 grams pitted green olives
- 60 grams capers with a bit of juice
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and finely minced
- 15 grams fresh oregano chopped
- 1 chicken quartered or 4 bone in/skin on chicken legs
- 120 ml dry white wine
- 50 grams brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate or date molasses
- ½ teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- In a large non-reactive dish large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer, combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and coat well with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C. In a shallow roasting pan, lay the chicken in a single layer, skin side up, along with the marinade. Mix the molasses and brown sugar together and lightly ½ of the mixture over the tops of the chicken. Whisk the white wine with the remaining ½ of the mixture and add to the pan, pouring eveny around the chicken pieces.
- Bake in the oven, basting two or three times with the pan juices, until the chicken is golden brown on top and cooked through.
- Transfer everything to a warm serving platter and garnish with some fresh oregano.
- Serve with couscous or rice alongside