Chicken Marbella

Before anything else, I want to share that my post for the Grilled Cajun Chicken Pasta weeks ago was selected as one of the top 5 blogs for the McCormick Grill Nation Blog Contest. Thank you, Nuffnang and McCormick! I get 5 free passes to the McCormick Grill Nation Event today at 4PM which will be held in Bonifacio High Street and earn the chance to win a charcoal grill on the event itself. I didn't really expect to win for the mere reason that this blog just came about two months ago and I was thinking that being a newbie, there are better bloggers than me out there. I guess this blog is turning out better than what I had originally thought it would be.

I really didn't get to plan my day right today as I only received the email from Nuffnang late Wednesday. As most of you know, today is my birthday. Traditionally, a weekend birthday always comes with a lunch or dinner here at home and the whole day is spent with the family. Since I have to leave in the afternoon (and 5 tickets are not enough to bring the whole family with me), I just have to postpone the actual celebration at a later date. Honestly, it's no big deal. My celebration with my dear friends won't be until May 5th just to make way for the tight schedules of those who are tied up with the audit deadline on April 15th, and since we are postponing it anyway, we coincided it on a weekend when our bride-to-be friend from London will be in town. So, yeah, my birthday celebration this year won't definitely be just a one-day event.

For those who know me that well, I will not settle to let the day pass without preparing anything at all. I made the Chicken Marbella recipe I found in one of the blogs I regularly check. Turns out that this dish was known back in the days by the former specialty food shop The Silver Palate in NYC that later on launched its cookbook in the early 80s and known as a classic chicken recipe for parties and entertaining.

The ingredients can be commonly found in the supermarket. I have most of the ingredients the recipe requires in our pantry and fridge, but I have to make a quick trip for the prunes and fresh chicken thighs. The dish essentially has to be marinated overnight anyway so preparing it a night before gives you more time to prepare something else in the morning (or sleep longer in my case), and all that needs to be done the next day is to heat the oven, add the sugar and wine, wait for the food to bake and serve with parsley just in time for lunch. It's a dish that is sweet, salty and tangy altogether. Don't get intimidated by the unique combination of prunes, olives and capers. The dish turned out really well - it's really easy to prepare and it has a classy vibe in it.

Chicken Marbella
(Adapted from Camille Styles from the feature on Kendra Scott; Original recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook)

4 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sliced pitted prunes
1/2 cup chopped pitted green olives
1/2 cup capers with a little of the caper juice
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
3 teaspoons dried oregano
6 bay leaves
salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, olive oil, red wine vinegar, prunes, green olives, capers and caper juice, garlic, oregano, bay leaves. Season the marinade with salt and ground pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 180C. Pour the chicken mixture in an oven-safe shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the chicken and pour the white wine all around it. Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes, basting frequently with the pan juices.

Once done, remove the bay leaves and sprinkle with chopped parsley. You can leave out the parsley if you don't have this on hand. We did have parsley stashed in the fridge, but the aroma of the dish while it was baking in the oven was too enticing that I totally forgot to bring it out and remembered it after we finished eating lunch.

This dish will definitely have a repeat performance in future gatherings, and next time, I will keep in mind that I have to sprinkle the parsley before serving it.