I've never tried this, Martha--perfect timing. I need to get out of my "sheetpan chicken" rut. This seems every bit as easy, and I love slow cooker food in the fall. Thanks for sharing this.

Looks great, Martha...even though I don't own a crock pot anymore.

We're also fans of the Silver Palate girls' Chicken Marbella. Those women were really ahead of their time IMO.

What does 1 jar capers and 1 jar olives mean? I get capers in jars ranging from around 4-14 oz, and olives range from 8-32 ounce jars.

Original Silver Palate recipe calls for 1/2 cup each of capers and green Spanish olives.

I buy both in bulks so "jar" doesn't mean much to me either :-)

That's the way the recipe was written -- we only get capers in a small jar and I didn't quite have a whole one so I used that and didn't buy a jar and also used the rest of the olives in a jar I had in the fridge. I figured it was not "Costco" size jars! LOL! I would say that the small jar of capers are probably 1/2 cup -- the olives were a bit more -- more like a whole cup because it was a bigger jar and I used the rest of it.

You can also tweak the SP's recipe to taste. I've cut back a bit on the sugar and prunes. I've halved the recipe if making it for just the two of us.

Just made a pot of SP Slit Pea Soup With Ham this morning...another great one.

That looks good to me too, and I almost never use my crock pot - it stays in my garage. However, I might take it out for something like this, but I would also eliminate the raisins/prunes and maple syrup. I've had Persian chicken in restaurants that combined fruit and something sweet and did not like the sweetness with the chicken. I would probably substitute dried chilies (Ancho) for the prunes.

I tend to make dishes like this in my pressure cooker, which is why I almost never use my crock pot, I think.

Suggestions for converting this recipe to pressure cooker?

The original SP recipe does not include maple syrup but does have brown sugar. Omitting both this and the prunes (I don't think raisins work nearly as well and wouldn't sub them for prunes) would completely change the dish and IMO, make it much less appealing. There is enough tartness and acidity with the other ingredients so that the dish is not at all 'sweet'.......at most, it has a slightly fruity picanteness to it.

Also does not require a slow cooker. You just need to provide sufficient time for proper marination and then just bake in the oven.

This dish is a family favorite and we have been making it for years. I've never encountered anyone who didn't like it!

For anyone interested, this is the Silver Palate recipe. Tasty stuff. Again, easy to tweak, if desired.

Chicken Marbella

This was the first main-course dish to be offered at The Silver Palate, and the distinctive colors and flavors of the prunes, olives and capers have kept it a favorite for years. It's good hot or at room temperature. When prepared with small drumsticks and wings, it makes a delicious hors d'oeuvre. The overnight marinating is essential to the moistness of the finished product: the chicken keeps and even improves over several days of refrigeration; it travels well and makes excellent picnic fare. Since Chicken Marbella is such a spectacular party dish, we give quantities to serve 10 to 12, but the recipe can be divided to make smaller amounts if you wish.

• 4 chickens, 2 1/2 pounds each, quartered
• 1 head of garlic, peeled and finely pureed
• 1/4 cup dried oregano
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup pitted prunes
• 1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
• 1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley or fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine chicken quarters, garlic, oregano, pepper and coarse salt to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice, and bay leaves. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight. Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest, yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice. With a slotted spoon transfer chicken, prunes, olives and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with a few spoonfuls of pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Pass remaining pan juices in a sauce boat. To serve Chicken Marbella cold, cool to room temperature in cooking juices before transferring to a serving platter. If chicken has been covered and refrigerated, allow it to return to room temperature before serving. Spoon some of the reserved juices over chicken.

When Lars mentioned maple syrup and went and re-read the recipe again. I wonder why maple syrup is used in the slow-cooker version.

Chicken Marbella is hands-down my favourite chicken recipe. I wouldn't have thought of making it in the sc.

I love, love the prunes, it's a necessity. The brown sugar makes the chicken brown nicely without adding any, or just a little sweetness.

Hey, the edit button is working again!!! Yay!

Exactly! As Jasdip said, the sugar is to brown the wet chicken. If you sprinkle it on the actual pieces, it doesn't make the dish sweeter, just the chicken skin. I'd think it would be wholly unnecessary in the slow cooker.

The only reason I can think of for the addition of maple syrup is trying to get some flavor of the caramelization which doesn't happen in the slow cooker. An alternative would be to dry the chicken pieces and sear the skin before starting up the slow cooker. Since one isn't marinating the chicken ahead of the cook, it's possible in the slow cooker version, and I'd rather do that than add the maple.

The prunes on the other hand are a must. Sure, sub raisins if you're just throwing together a family meal and are out of prunes, but the flavor will be quite different, and you need to tighten the quantity of raisins or it'll be very sweet. I truly dislike prunes on their own, but they're essential to the recipe, and when they swell up with garlicky chicken juice they're amazing!

BTW, a "jar" of capers IMO is the tall skinny traditional one, but I haven't a clue what a jar of olives is. ;) Luckily the original recipe gives measures. I use the little brown, less hybridized ones from the olive bar and they don't funk up the recipe to where I can't bear the olive taste (I would politely push it around on the plate and dig out some chicken from the middle of my piece if I were served it with pimento stuffed green olives). I actually don't like prunes or olives and am ambivalent to capers, but love how they come together in Chicken Marbella.

Thanks, Martha, for posting the recipe. I never would have thought of adapting it to slow cook, but it's kind of ideal for it, huh?

Loved SP 25 years ago......still have a few favourites but this is not one of them. Their beef stroganoff however is still my go to recipe.

I remember being pretty glued to The SP Cookbook when I got it in the early 80's. Over the years I've accumulated most of their other books...SP Good Times Cookbook, New Basics Cookbook, and the books Julee and Sheila did solo. Sheila's USA Cookbook, Celebrate!, and Ten are all good. Lots of years cooking from those two women. It was sad to lose Sheila so young.

Chloebud -- me too! OMG, it was so . . . "gourmet" -- at least to this midwesterner. I still have mine and it is a well used and well read cookbook!

I had never heard of The Silver Palate Cookbook until now. My grandmother armed me with the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook with its classic red gingham cover, and that was my cooking bible in my early years of cooking on my own. I feel like I missed out now! I may need to go back to the SP.

Funny, I read about Chicken Marbella and we tried and loved it, but had never heard of the cookbook.

There's a huge 2-day book sale held annually to raise funds for a local group. And there I found the Silver Palate Cookbook for $2 a couple of years ago. (all books are $2). I leafed thru to make sure it has the coveted recipe.

We also scored 2 Julia Child hardcover cookbooks that were in a box outside marked Free!! Hubby was ecstatic to find them.

"And there I found the Silver Palate Cookbook for $2."

Good deal, Jasdip! Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso have been great resources for me over the years, especially Sheila. Sadly, she died of brain cancer in 2009.

I loved my old crockpot, but when it died of old age, I received a new and fancier one as a gift. It’s great except that I don’t dare leave it on too long as even on low it cooks super fast. I seem to recall that’s due to the new regulations for cooking at low temperatures.

I had a crock pot years ago that would burn everything along the sides. I can't recall the brand, but I got rid of it and just never got another one.

I never liked my crockpot, which was one of the newer too hot ones, but I was given a Breville Fast Slow, which is like an Instant Pot, and the slow cook on that is fabulous, plus, you can adjust everything to suit yourself. I've never had an issue slow cooking in an oven if it went down low enough. It's the nanny state new crockpots that are the problem.

I've got mine marinating overnight ... be perfect for the big games tomorrow

Ooo Sunday dinner. Husband loves dishes with olives and capers. He says merci!

"Suggestions for converting this recipe to pressure cooker?"

Same as crockpot but pressure cook on high for 1.25 hours.

I do like the idea of browning the dry chicken as a first step. Similar to the coq au vin process.

Thanks for posting! I'm making this on Sunday. Love Chicken Marbella - it was our wedding recital dinner.

Marinating now. What did you serve it with?

Rice has always been my go-to, to soak up the wonderful juices. I often had broccoli or roasted asparagus with it.

It was delicious. Thank you. I served it with pommes rissolėes for some crunch.

I made it this weekend. Gonna leave the olives whole next time. Got a good review from my DW so will do it again.

I used the leftover liquid in the crockpot to cook some frozen meatballs. They were fab ...

Bragu -- great idea!