Chicken Marbella

Adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook, by Julia Rosso and Sheila Lukins, ISBN 0-89480-203-8.  This dish is great for feeding lots of company as most of the work can be done ahead of time.  I find that most people are content with just one chicken quarter, but you can easily figure out what to cook based on the appetites of your guests.  Just adjust all the ingredients in rough proportion.  I've not served Chicken Marbella cold, but the original recipe says you can, either by cooling after it has cooked or by refrigerating and allowing to return to room temperature.

• 4 or 5 chicken breasts, halved, or 8 to 10 chicken quarters
• a full head of garlic, peeled and puréed, minced or finely chopped
• ¼ cup dried oregano
• coarse salt to taste (I use none at all)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste (I use a lot)
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 cup pitted prunes, cut in half or smaller pieces
• ½ cup pitted Spanish green olives
• ½ cup capers, with a bit of juice
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white wine
• ¼ cup Italian (not curly) parsley, finely chopped

The day before the meal, combine the chicken, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and their juice and the bay leaves.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  You can do this in any bowl that's big enough, but a special Tupperware™ marinade thingy is just ideal as you can flip it over from time to time and mix it all up.  Actually, you can put it in a strong plastic bag and take in on vacation with you.  That is, unless like me you leave it at home in the refrigerator, but even then it's still good to cook a week later when you come home!

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Spread the chicken pieces out, in a single layer if possible, in one or more shallow baking pans.  Spoon the marinade evenly over them, including all the solid stuff.  Pour the while wine into the pan around the chicken and sprinkle the whole lot with the brown sugar.  Cook, uncovered, in the oven until done.  How long this takes will depend on how much chicken you've got and will be a bit longer if you have thighs in the mix.  Start checking at 30 minutes and look for clear, not pink, juices when the pieces are probed at their thickest part.

To serve, transfer the chicken pieces to a warmed platter and with a slotted spoon remove the solids from the marinade and arrange it attractively around the chicken.  Moisten this with a few spoonfuls of the liquid marinade and sprinkle the parsley on top.  Put the remainder of the liquid in a sauce boat and serve separately.  Of course, for family occasions you can serve directly to plates, but remember the parsley and the extra sauce.