Chicken Marbella
An impressively easy roast chicken dinner! While it benefits from a full 24 hours of marinating, it's not strictly necessary. See note for more details.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb (1.4-1.8 kg; about 8 pieces) chicken legs, skin on and bone in skin scored a few times
- 5 garlic cloves crushed
- ¾ cup/15g fresh oregano leaves* plus extra to serve
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup/100g green olives pitted
- 6 tablespoons/60g capers plus 2 tablespoon of their brine
- 3.5 oz/100g (~½ cup) Medjool dates pitted and quartered lengthwise
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and black pepper
- ½ cup/120ml dry white wine
- 1 tablespoons date molasses or standard molasses
- ½-1 cup chicken broth as needed
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a large nonreactive bowl and add the garlic, oregano, vinegar, oil, olives, capers, dates, and bay leaves, along with 1 teaspoon salt and 5-6 grinds of black pepper. Gently mix everything together, cover the bowl, and leave in the fridge to marinate for 1-2 days**, stirring the ingredients a few times during the process.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Spread out the chicken legs in one large (10x15x2-inches at least) or two medium high-sided baking pan, along with all the marinade ingredients. Whisk together the wine and molasses and pour over the meat. Place in the oven and cook for 50-60 minutes, basting two or three times, until the meat is golden brown on top and cooked through. [If necessary, add a little chicken broth to the pan during cooking to enable basting.]
- Remove from the oven, transfer everything to a large platter, sprinkle with some oregano, and serve.
Notes
*If you don't have fresh oregano, use 1-1.5 teaspoons dried instead.
**If you don't have time to wait for the chicken legs to marinate, just season the legs with salt and pepper (instead of adding them to the marinade), rub the seasonings into the skin well, then place in the pan and pour over the remaining marinade ingredients (no additional salt/pepper required) and bake.