Chicken Marbella

I have never heard of this before.  The recipe immediately reminded me that somewhere buried in my personal book of recipes which I gathered over the years, is a newspaper clipping of a beef pot roast I used to make with prunes.  And I remember how much I loved it.  I halved this because only 3 of us would be dining tonight.

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
• 1 cup large pitted prunes
• 3/4 cup large green olives, pitted (mine were pitted and stuffed with garlic)

• 1/4 cup capers, including the juices 
• 3 bay leaves
• 10 cloves of garlic, peeled (I forgot to mince it)
• 2 scant tablespoons dried oregano
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 lbs of chicken pieces (I used thighs, patted dry with paper towels and seasoned with S&P)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

Combine the chicken pieces, olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers, bay leaves, garlic and oregano in a large Ziploc bag and squeeze out the air .  Refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place the chicken, skin side up, along with the marinade in one layer in a large roasting pan, sprinkle with the brown sugar, and pour the wine around (not over) the chicken. 

Roast for one hour or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 145 F. Remove the pan from the oven, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.  Check seasoning and serve with pan juices.  Garnish with cilantro.

I served this with my favorite heirloom stone-ground grits and made them cheesy with Gruyere cheese.  I used bacon fat in place of butter as well.  To me, the grits steal the show every time and this was no exception.  That bacon fat was fantastic in this.  I'm going to try this dish again, however, I would mince the garlic and instead of sprinkling with sugar, I'd just put it in the marinade.  I found it made the skin too sweet.  I couldn't use much of the pan sauce when plating because of the grits, so I'd use rice next time as well.  It was a tasty dish.  Can't complain and I loved the prunes.