Posts Tagged‘olives’

Chicken Marbella

by KitchenRebel on November 10, 2013

2,389 Comments

For quite some time I’ve wanted to try the popular Silver Palate Chicken Marbella recipe. Olives, prunes, vinegar, wine and bay leaves sounded like it had some ooey gooey sweet sour potential.

This weekend I finally tried the recipe. I made some slight changes for convenience, mostly because I didn’t feel like going back to the store to get dried oregano, so I used fresh from the garden.

ingredients

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 
  • 1 cup pitted prunes
  • 1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
  • 1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 1 head of garlic, peeled and finely chopped or pureed
  • 1/4 cup dried oregano
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped 
I did things a little differently to the original recipe (at end of post)

instructions

  1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
  2. In large bowl or ziploc bag, mix all the ingredients together to make marinade.
  3. Toss chicken in marinade.
  4. I marinaded for 2 hours (I was pressed for time)
  5. Bake at 350 for 1hr 15mins, or till chicken is tender and juices are running clear.
  6. With slotted spoon transfer chicken pieces to serving dish.
  7. Pour sauce/pan juices into sauce pan, simmer for a few mins. I did this to break down the prunes further, and mostly to remove any excess oil.
  8. I poured off all excess oil, then poured sauce over chicken.
  9. I forgot to add the chopped parsley before serving.

I took the pic while the chicken was cooling, before I removed the bay leaves.  I had every intention of taking pics once I plated, but we started tasting and tasting.. and tasting some more.. before I knew it there was only 3 pieces left and we were in a chicken coma headed for the couch.

We really enjoyed this dish.  Slightly sweet and tangy.  Very similar taste profile to an old fashioned South African sweet and sour meat dish, called Denningvleis, where tamarind is used to for the fruity tangy sour flavour, instead of prunes and wine.  Denningvleis is one of the oldest recorded recipes in South African history.  The combination of sweet, sour and aromatic spices very evocative of Indonesian cuisine.

An interesting little fact about Denningvleis – every time I’ve made it, its wowed people, I can’t tell you how many catering jobs I’ve landed based on that dish alone.

This was a great flavour profile, clearly one thats been around for a long long time.  I found chicken marbella to be a tame, toned down version of this old fashioned dish.

I can’t wait to explore this flavour profile again, next time using a “Denning-chicken” recipe.

Original recipe:

1. Combine all ingredients, except white wine and brown sugar, and marinate overnight.

2. Then arrange chicken in single layer in baking pan, spoon over marinade, sprinkle with sugar and white wine.

3. Bake for 50 mins to 1 hour, basting frequently.

4. Add chopped parsley before serving.

 

Chicken Marbella

by KitchenRebel on May 21, 2012

4,425 Comments

For quite some time I’ve wanted to try the popular Silver Palate Chicken Marbella recipe. Olives, prunes, vinegar, wine and bay leaves sounded like it had some ooey gooey sweet sour potential. This weekend I finally tried the recipe. I made some slight changes for convenience, mostly because I didn’t feel like going back to the store to get dried oregano, so I used fresh from the garden.

 

Ingredients:

2lbs chicken thighs (i used 8 thighs, nearly 3 lbs)

Salt and pepper

½ head of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 Tbsp dried oregano

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup pitted prunes, halved

½ cup green olives

¼ cup capers with a bit of juice

3 bay leaves

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cups white wine

2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

 

The original recipe was:

1. Combine all ingredients, except white wine and brown sugar, and marinate overnight.

2. Then arrange chicken in single layer in baking pan, spoon over marinade, sprinkle with sugar and white wine.

3. Bake for 50 mins to 1 hour, basting frequently.

4. Add chopped parsley before serving.

 

I did things a little differently..

1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

2. In large bowl or ziploc bag, mix all the ingredients together to make marinade.

3. Toss chicken in marinade.

4. I marinaded for 2 hours (I was pressed for time)

5. Bake at 350 for 1hr 15mins, till chicken is tender and juices are running clear.

6. With slotted spoon transfer chicken pieces to serving dish.

7. Pour sauce/pan juices into sauce pan, simmer for a few mins. I did this to break down the prunes further, and mostly to remove any excess oil.

8. I poured off all excess oil, then poured sauce over chicken.

9. I forgot to add the chopped parsley before serving.

 

I took this pic while the chicken was cooling, before I removed the bay leaves.  I had every intention of taking pics once i plated, but we started tasting and tasting.. and tasting some more.. before I knew it there was only 3 pieces left and we were in a chicken coma headed for the couch.

 

We really enjoyed this dish.  Slightly sweet and tangy.  Very similar taste profile to an old fashioned South African sweet and sour meat dish, called Denningvleis, where tamarind is used to for the fruity tangy sour flavour, instead of prunes and wine.  Denningvleis is one of the oldest recorded recipes in South African history.  The combination of sweet, sour and aromatic spices very evocative of Indonesian cuisine.

 

An interesting little fact about Denningvleis – every time I’ve made it, its wowed people, I can’t tell you how many catering jobs I’ve landed based on that dish alone.

 

This was a great flavour profile, clearly one thats been around for a long long time.  I found chicken marbella to be a tame, toned down version of the old fashioned dish.

 

I can’t wait to explore this flavour profile again, next time using a “Denning-chicken” recipe.