The meal your February needs

Mid-winter is such a struggle. My (cooking) life is the bare branches I will to develop buds by staring at it really hard. 

Tonight's dinner was one such bud that was a mercy. I decided it needing sharing right away, even with dark nighttime photos.

It's a meal that's got a high fanciness:effort ratio and I think it'll be just what you need. Apparently I'd been carrying around this recipe for 19 years without knowing it, because it's in the first cookbook I ever received, The Silver Palate. The gals at The Modern Proper updated the recipe and made it even easier and more accessible.

I'll keep this post short and just get to the recipe, which I highly recommend getting to this week, maybe for Valentine's?

No we don't usually have wine or light candles every night.

We served this with a delightful blush-colored Rosé (the kids loved their Mandarin orange seltzer water) and a steamed and buttered rutabaga. (Tip for the frequently-carded at the grocery store: toss some uncommon root veggies on the conveyor belt before your alcohol and see if they still think you're part of the under 21 crowd.)

Without further ado...

Sheet Pan Chicken Marbella
from The Modern Proper

4 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

Make a paste marinade by pulsing together:

1/2 cup pitted green (or black) olives
1/3 cup pitted prunes
1/4 olive oil
4 garlic cloves
2 T capers
1 t dried oregano
2 t salt
lots of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine (I used sake)

Cover both sides of your chicken thighs with this marinade -- you can even do this directly on your sheet pan. Or you can do this ahead of time to let it marinate for longer (e.g., in a gallon-sized ziplock bag for an easy weeknight dinner).

When you're ready to bake it, preheat your oven to 400 F. Pour the following onto the pan:

1/3 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup olives, halved
1/3 chopped prunes (I omitted this because I only had enough for the puree, but I think it would be good)
1 T capers
1-2 T brown sugar (I was worried it would make it sweet, but it's the perfect balance for the wine; think Chicken Marsala)
salt + pepper

Bake for 30 minutes. (I checked it during the baking and needed to pour more stock.) Remove chicken onto your serving dish. Transfer the pan drippings to small saucepan and reduce if needed (I didn't). Whisk in 2 T cold butter. Pour sauce over the serving platter and garnish with 2 T minced parsley. Repeat the phrase "pan sauce" to your family over and over because you are so fancy.

Finally, finish this meal with a tiny dish of ice cream.