Recipe from "The Silver Palate Cookbook"
Adapted by Christine Muhlke
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes, plus overnight refrigeration
- Rating
- 5(5,045)
- Notes
- Read community notes
If there’s such a thing as boomer cuisine, it can be found in the pages of “The Silver Palate Cookbook” by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso. With its chirpy tone and “Moosewood”-in-the-city illustrations, the book, published in time for Mother’s Day in 1982, gave millions of home cooks who hadn’t mastered the art of French cooking the courage to try sophisticated dishes like escabeche, wild mushroom soup and that new thing called pesto. This recipe, also in the book, came to The Times in a 2007 article celebrating the 25th anniversary edition. The briny-sweet combination once seemed as risky (capers! prunes!) as the East Village, but now it's considered as classic as Grand Central. —Christine Muhlke
Featured in: The Way We Eat; Book of Revelations
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- ½cup olive oil
- ½cup red wine vinegar
- 1cup pitted prunes
- ½cup pitted Spanish green olives
- ½cup capers, with a bit of juice
- 6bay leaves
- 1head of garlic, peeled and puréed
- ½cup fresh oregano, chopped, or ¼ cup dried oregano
- 2teaspoons of salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2chickens, 3½ to 4 pounds each, quartered
- 1cup dry white wine
- 1cup brown sugar
- 2tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
921 calories; 59 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 29 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 26 grams sugars; 55 grams protein; 1113 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.
Step
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan; spoon the marinade over it evenly. Pour in the wine and sprinkle the chicken with the brown sugar.
Step
3
Bake until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow juice when pricked with a fork, 50 to 60 minutes, basting two or three times with the pan juices once the chicken begins to brown. (When basting, do not brush off the sugar. If the chicken browns too quickly, cover lightly with foil.)
Step
4
Transfer the chicken pieces to a warm serving platter and top with the prunes, olives and capers; keep warm. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and bring the pan juices to a boil. Reduce to about ½ cup. Strain into a heatproof bowl, add the parsley and pour over the chicken.
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5
out of 5
5,045
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Cooking Notes
Susan
Do you know what would make this site perfect? When reviewing the comments, give readers the opportunity to check the comments they would like to include when printing the recipe. I've seen it done on a couple of other sites. Just an idea to add to an already great site.
Jon
I was trying this recipe, and felt like it was A LOT of brown sugar going on top. I researched the original recipe in the Silver Palatte cookbookand realized all ingredients were reduced by 1/2 in the version, except the wine and brown sugar. Just a caution.
Sara
I make this for Rosh Hashonah every year with dried apricots instead of prunes and much less sugar. I serve it with couscous, roast butternut squash and toasted pine nuts.
Katie
I adore this recipe and find it perfect for dinner parties. I always use boneless chicken thighs as I find them easier for guests to deal with. This reduces the cooking time to 30 minutes. I also like to use a combination of prunes and dried apricots. Leftovers freeze well---I like to freeze the liquid separately from the meat. When I thaw, I heat the liquid in a saucepan and submerge the chicken in the liquid for a slow reheat. I think it tastes like it did when I first baked it.
Tim O'Connor
I worked at the Silver Palate for several years in the kitchen. This was one of Sheila Lukins' favs. I made it many, many times! Good memories there.The brown sugar should be a light dusting, I like to get the skin a bit crisp before dusting with the brown sugar.
A crowd favorite ... I'm always asked for the recipe.
I've been delighting guests at parties and showers with this brilliant dish from The Silver Palate Cookbook. for years. Whatever the season (at room temp or just out of the oven) it never fails to please. Boneless chicken makes it easier to eat and it's marvelous when made from organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
I've found when tripling the recipe that only doubling the liquid ingredients (and brown sugar) is sufficient. Otherwise, it's simply perfect as is.
AHS
This is a family holiday staple from way back.
I use balsamic vinegar instead of the wine vinegar and cut way down on the brown sugar and slightly increase the white wine. Instead of adding the wine and brown sugar separately, I dissolve the brown sugar into the white wine and pour the enhanced wine over the chicken.
EC
I use demerara sugar instead of brown sugar, and a lot less - I just sprinkle it lightly over the dish before it goes in the oven. Comes out perfect.
Maeve
love to make this with DATES instead of prunes.
Kathleen McD
Years ago a dear friend adapted this for boneless chicken breasts, which could be cut into two or three pieces each before marinating. He also insisted on marinating for 24 hours and, after cooking, for letting the chicken refrigerate overnite. Gently reheated or served at room temperature, it is a perfect buffet dish. Recently I've made it for showers for a couple of millennial brides and they all wanted the recipe. It is a keeper.
Kathryn
I have been cooking this recipe a couple of times a year for about 30 years. I never use the amount of sugar called for. I sprinkle about 2 tablespoons over the top - otherwise, it is way too sweet for my family's taste and ruins the nuance of the other flavors. With less sugar is certainly warrants 5 stars.
Mary
I've been making this since the old Silver Palette days. Have made the CI recipe too. I always tweak it. Some tips. This time I used boneless skinless thighs and the portions were perfect and flavor was unfatty. I think oven temp should be higher than 350 since boneless meat was denser. Took extra time to cook. And I turned it up to 450 for 10 minutes to promote more caramelization. I halved the sugar of course. Was delicious. Use a thermometer and cut into pieces to check doneness.
Sandy17
Our go-to Passover, Chanukah, any old party recipe. Ask your butcher to get you the smaller (2.5 pound) chickens--they are hard to find at the poultry counter, but they all use them for their whole roasted chickens they sell cooked and can order them for you. Quarter them for a much more user friendly portion than the huge, 4-5 pound birds that sit front and center. They like to sell the bigger birds...Also, mixing your dried fruit--apricots, cherries, for instance, adds color.
Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor
You put the chicken and ALL of the marinade (prunes, olives, etc.) in the pan before cooking.
Montesquieu
I've made this many times, and you're right that it's best to use the boneless. skinless thighs. I've found the higher the quality the olive oil and red wine vinegar the better. Also, I use Kalamata and Nicoise olives instead of the Spanish; and I use raisins instead of prunes. Finally, when I make the rice for it, I use chicken stock instead of water--gives the dish a bit more depth of flavor.
Betsy D.
Most delicious dish ever!
Andrew Z.
If you are cooking for Passover, you should make sure that the red wine vinegar you use is specifically kosher for Passover. I recently learned that vinegar is governed by the same rules for Passover as wine is. NYT may want to consider adding a note that if you are making this for Passover, you should use red wine vinegar that is specifically kosher for Passover.
Elizabeth Grossman
I have been making this for years but now use boneless skinless chicken thighs so it is much easier to cook and serve. Thanks for the tip!
celestina f.
Hello! Could dates be subbed for the prunes?
tdcarman
One of my favorite recipes.I usually make this without the brown sugar. The dish is sweet enough with only the dried prunes.
Liz
Easy and elegant. Love.
PABlues
My go to (not so) secret recipe. I bump up the marinade and fruits/olives and tone way down on the brown sugar. Everyone raves and feeds a crowd of foodies.
Luther
This, was incredibly good. Fixed it for my wife's birthday along with our grown kids etc. Every single person said it was fantastic! Bone in, skin on, thighs, dates instead of prunes. Everything else as written. Next time I will definitely increase olives to full cup, dates to 1.5 cups and capers to well round half cup. Getting the capers out after chicken had cooked in the pan was a challenge. Instead of reducing liquid in pan in oven, I poured liquid into saucepan over high heat. Many thanks!
Don
Many suggest substituting boneless thighs, but what is the equivalent to the 7-8 lbs of whole chicken in the recipe? I assume half that?
Aunt B.
Nevermind! The nutritional info is not that bad. (I should have known the French know what they are doing.)
850g Boneless thighs=1/2 recipe
Hello from Dublin. To half the recipe with boneless thighs:Perfect amount of sauce and flavour with 850g of Boneless skinless chicken thighs. Brown sugar seems like a lot but go with it. Extra chopped prunes was a nice touch.
Texas!
Too much salt. With large quantity of olives and capers, it doesn’t need any salt. Apricots would be lovely. With skin on chicken, don’t need as much olive oil.
Texas!
Apricots and prunes cut in halves and quarters. 1/2 oil if using skin -on chicken. No salt -olives and capers add enough. Little orange juice at end would be nice.
Kira
Incredible! My adjustments: I used 9 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs instead of the whole chickens so guest servings would be uniform. A scant ~1/3 cup of brown sugar to sprinkle over each piece of chicken, increased white wine slightly to 1 1/4 cup. It wasn't practical to put my roasting pan on the stove, so I transferred the liquid to a saucier pan; 15-20 mins to reduce. Serve with a salad and fresh loaf of bread & butter to sop up the delicious juices. Yum!
margie
Do not cut back on sugar or end up too dry
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