Chicken Marbella

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Ingredients:
2 1/2 - 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and thighs
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup pitted green olives, rinsed and halved
1 tablespoon capers
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup pitted prunes, chopped course
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

     Paste:
1/3 cup pitted green olives, rinsed
1/3 cup pitted prunes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons capers
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch red pepper flakes

Preparation:
Place all the Paste ingredients in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Paste can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated.

Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving it until well browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate. Drain off all but 1 teaspoon fat from skillet and return to medium-low heat. Add 1/3 cup paste to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and foam forms on pan bottom, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in broth, wine, olives, capers, and bay leaves, scraping up any browned bits. Return chicken to pan, skin side up (skin should be above surface of liquid), and roast in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Remove skillet from oven and spread remaining paste over chicken pieces; sprinkle prunes around chicken. Continue to roast until paste begins to brown, breasts register 160 degrees, and thighs register 175 degrees, 7 to 12 minutes longer.

Transfer chicken to serving platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Remove bay leaves from sauce and whisk in butter, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon parsley; season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce around chicken on platter or, just put chicken back in pan with sauce and sprinkle with parsley.

Serving Suggestion:
Serve with saffron rice, fresh French bread and a good red wine.

Variation:
If you don't like the olives, prunes and capers, just eliminate them and substitute a mushroom duxelle for the paste and sprinkle fresh mushrooms around the chicken.

Mushroom Duxelle:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound wild mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and chopped
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup port wine, red or white wine or vermouth
Salt and black pepper

Heat olive oil in large sauté pan. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 6 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic and continue to sauté for 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and cook until almost all the liquid has cooked off, about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the duxelle from the pan and cool completely.

History:
Cook's Illustrated's remake of the Silver Palate Cookbook recipe.