Author Notes
Blog about the recipe here: www.saucyvermont.com
I adore the Chicken Marbella recipe from The Silver Palate. It is elegant, great for a dinner party, easy, and produces sublime leftovers... I crave those flavors often but because we raise chickens, and are so short on time, I decided to incorporate the big, beloved, bold, full bodied flavors of that Marbella dish, into a (quicker and fancier if I do say so myself) roasted bird dish.
—saucy. von Trapp
Ingredients
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1
whole chicken (I had a 6.5lb-er)
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1
bulb garlic, chopped finely (food processor does a masterful job)
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1/4 cup
dried oregano
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a few dashes
good salt and fresh ground pepper ( I like sel gris)
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2/3 cup
red wine vinegar
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2/3 cup
olive oil
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1 cup
pitted dried plums, chopped into bite-size pieces
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1 cup
dried apricots, chopped into bite-size pieces
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2/3 cup
olives, pitted and sliced in half (I used Kalamata, good green olives would be nice too)
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2/3 cup
capers with about 1/3 cup juice
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8
bay leaves
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1 1/3 cups
brown sugar
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1 1/2 cups
wine ( I think it is equally good with red and white wine - use whatever you have on hand)
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Couscous or rice to serve with (recipe coming soon)
Directions
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Put every ingredient except for the chicken, into a bowl.
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Stir carefully as not to damage the bay leaves.
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Put the chicken into a large bag with no holes (if you have one, otherwise you can use a large bowl but the marinade will be distributed more successfully if you use a bag) and pour your bowl of delicious ingredients over chicken and make sure it is coated well.
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Seal the bag (or put a lid on the bowl if that is what you are using) and let the chicken marinate for a long time... ideally overnight. If you don’t have a long time, it will still taste heavenly, but the longer the better. Even if you only have a couple hours, however, I would still go for it. Toss the bird a few times during the marination.
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The cooking time will depend on what kind of oven you have - 6.5 bird takes 1 hr 40 mins in my non-convection oven.
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Preheat oven to 425. Place the fruits and bits and leaves from the marinade under and inside the chicken and place the chicken (breast-side up) in a roasting pan. Tie the legs together with a piece of twine (if you are into that look). Then, (if you want to “set it and forget it” leave it be and roast in said position until it is done) or do as I do and complicate things in the name of possibly achieving a juicier breast...
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After 15 minutes, flip the bird over and roast for about 45 minutes “upside-down”. Then flip it one last time to finish back in the original position for the last 30 or so minutes... The chicken is done when you pierce the thigh at the thickest point and the juices run clear, rather than pink (or 180 on a meat thermometer)....
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Mound rice or couscous (recipes coming tomorrow) onto a serving platter and set your beautiful bird on top, voila’ !
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