Chicken Marbella

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 5
• 2 lbs chicken thigh pieces, skinless and boneless, cut each piece into 4
• 1/2 head garlic, peeled and finely pureed (this works out to about 6-8 cloves)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano, crumbled
• coarse salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 12 pitted prunes (i cut them in half)
• 6 dried apricots, cut in half (optional)
• 1/2 cup pitted spanish green olives
• 1/3 cup capers, with a bit of juice
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (i prefer to use less - 1/4 cup is fine)
• 3/4 cup wine
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (not in original recipe) (optional)
• 1/3 cup italian parsley (cilantro) or 1/3 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped (cilantro)

Recipe

• 1 in a large bowl combine chicken quarters, garlic, oregano, pepper and coarse salt to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, apricots (if using), olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, brown sugar and wine.
• 2 cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight.
• 3 preheat oven to 350°f.
• 4 arrange chicken in a single layer in a large, shallow baking pan and spoon marinade over it evenly.
• 5 bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with pan juices. chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest, yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice.
• 6 with a slotted spoon transfer chicken, prunes, olives and capers to a serving platter. moisten with a few spoonfuls of pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. pass remaining pan juices in a sauceboat.
• 7 note: to serve chicken marbella cold, cool to room temperature in cooking juices before transferring to a serving platter. if chicken has been covered and refrigerated, allow it to return to room temperature before serving. spoon some of the reserved juices over chicken.