Chicken Marbella

The first Silver Palate cookbook was published in 1979. I treasure my original threadbare and tattered copy and the recipes that we all cooked in the 80’s from this celebrated New York gourmet shop. It was gourmet for me anyway. I made countless batches of the chicken liver mousse with green peppercorns, tapenade, chevre tarts, osso buco, apple tarts, pecan squares and mostly the Chicken Marbella. My friends and I served it at dinner parties, picnics and kids birthday parties. To this day, the inimitable chicken Marbella, can still hold it’s own. I never grow weary of the unique combination and sweet/salty balance of prunes, olives, capers and brown sugar as they mingle and caramelize and form a yummy pan juice sauce to serve with the moist baked chicken.
The original recipe calls for 4 chickens. I cut the recipe in half and you can cut this in half again and adapt for chicken pieces or a smaller quantity of chicken. To maximize these unique flavors, follow the advice of the Silver Palate chefs and cookbook authors and marinate for 24 hours. Can be served warm or at room temperature.