Chicken Marbella – Reboot

“Chicken Marbella” has to be one of my most favorite ways to prepare and serve chicken. The recipe includes an unusual combination of ingredients — and I certainly took a risk when we made it the first time. In the recipe, chicken pieces are marinated and then roasted in an eclectic combination of ingredients which seem to meld together perfectly. Sweet prunes and apricots, briny olives and capers, aromatic garlic, savory herbs and parsley along with vinegar, wine and oil and a pinch of brown sugar make the basis for the dish. Prunes, olives and chicken? Yes, it’s great! And, it’s colorful. I featured the recipe in one my early blog posts for Passover. I love the dish so much, that I decided to give it a reboot; making a few adjustments which also helps the dish quicker to cook — just in time for the Seder meal on Monday.

The Silver Palate Cookbook

The dish was created by Shella Lukins and Julee Rossa, the authors of the Silver Palate Cookbook which was published in 1982. This pair of celebrity chefs wrote cookbooks and gave cooking demonstrations and talks, they were newspaper columnists and they operated a restaurant in New York City. I believe that “Chicken Marbella” was one of the featured menu items of the restaurant. Cornish hens were used in the restaurant version.

I learned of the pair from their weekly articles in the Washington Post Sunday Parade Magazine. We subscribed to the Sunday paper. It came faithfully, in our mail box each Sunday. I looked forward to the Parade Magazine and probably never read the rest of the paper! The crowning jewel of their career was the Silver Palate Cookbook.

The vintage Silver Palate Cookbook was definately a baby boomer craze. It introduced us to the fine art of French cooking and many new terms — such as pesto and risotto– which are commonly used now. Although I never purchased the Silver Palate Cookbook, I do keep another cookbook authored by the pair on my bookshelf. This one is essentially a “how to do it” instructional book and contains over 850 recipes. Sort of an old-fashioned wikihow of recipe resources. The book makes an interesting read from time to time. I just can’t give the cookbook away.

Chicken Marbella Recipe Reboot

The “Chicken Marbella” recipe is colorful and flavorful — with the sweet prunes and apricots — with the dish cooked in white wine. Don’t leave these ingredients out. They simply make the dish come “alive.” The chicken is great for a simple supper meal as well as an elegant Seder dinner. It seems to have a Mediterranean flavor.

The original recipe was featured in a Sunday Parade magazine. Over the years, I have made it many times and have adapted it many times, especially with respect to the type of chicken used in the dish. The original recipe calls for bone-in chicken quarters. Often chicken thighs are used. Cornish hens or quail can be substituted — since this recipe has a Moroccan flair. Today, for my recipe reboot, I have boneless, skinless chicken tenders on hand. Since these are small pieces of chicken, I adjusted the cooking time to a shorter length and covered the dish while it roasted to keep the moisture in the casserole dish. Using boneless chicken tenders considerably speeds up the preparation time for this dish.

The unique aspect of this dish is the combination of ingredients which accompany the chicken. Dried prunes and apriots add a tasty, sweet component to the dish. The olives and capers add a salty component.

Making the dish is quite easy — there is not much chopping or dicing. Here are the ingredients for the marinade (the white wine, brown sugar and parsley are not included in the marinade — but are added later).

Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a non-metalic bowl. Add the chicken and marinate overnight. Since, I’m never thinking that far ahead, marinate at least an hour.

Take the chicken out of the bowl, drain off marinade and spead the chicken plus minced garlic in a single layer in an oiled Pyrex casserole dish. Sprinkle on the olives, capers, chopped prunes and apricots. Add the white wine.

Cover the dish casserole and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and baste the chicken with the juice in the pan. Inncrease the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Sprinkle on the brown sugar. Roast for 10 additional minutes to brown the chicken. Sprinkle on fresh parsley. Dinner is cooked!

Since we’re in South Louisiana, I served ‘Chicken Marbella – Reboot” with rice.

Thanks, to the cookbook authors of the Silver Palate Cookbook for the “Chicken Marbella” recipe. It has become one of my favoite chicken recipes. Over all these years, I think we can call it a classic! Enjoy my scaled down and easier “Chicken Marbella – Reboot” recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced finely, plus 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup small green pimento olives with 2 Tbsp juice
• 2 Tbsp capers, with 1 tbsp juice brine
• 1/2 cup dried, whole pitted brine
• 1/2 cup dred, whole pitted apricots
• 1/2 cup white cooking wine
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp chopped, fresh parsley
• 3 cups hot, cooked rice (for serving)
• 2 Tbsp chopped, fresh parsley
  
  
  
  1. Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic (fresh chopped or garlic powder), bay leaves, oregano and black pepper in a non-metal bowl and stir. Then add the brine from the olives and capers.
  2. Remove the tendons from the chicken tenderloins. Add the chicken to the marinade and stir to coat the chicken well. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for an hour to overnight.
  3. When ready to cook the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9″ x 13″ Pyrex casserole dish.
  4. Remove the chicken from the marinate. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Place the chicken in a single layer in Pyrex a baking casserole dish.
  5. Spread the olives and capers over the chicken pieces.
  6. Chop the prunes and apricots into quarters and spread on top of the chicken.
  7. Pour the wine over the chicken, dried fruit, olives and capers.
  8. Cover the casserole dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
  9. Remove the aluminum foil. Baste the chicken, fruit, olives and capers with the wine. Sprinkle on the brown sugar.
  10. Increase the temperature of the oven to 425 degrees. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes longer.
  11. Garnish with parsley.
  12. Serve with hot rice.