Last night, my blogging friend Katie, from North Dakota came out for a visit. She's actually here, in California on a business trip and was able to squeeze in some time for a visit to the ranch. We were so excited to have her over!
When I have guests over, whether it be over night or just for a dinner party, I like to have something that can be prepared in advance and just popped into the oven when I'm ready to begin dinner. This leaves plenty of time for visiting and enjoying a glass of wine uninterrupted....priorities, right?!
When Katie arrived we began chatting about cooking and she told me she had just bought the ingredients to make one of the chicken dishes from a cookbook I had given her on a previous visit but hadn't had time to make it yet. It just so happened, this was the same recipe I chose to make for her visit....Chicken Marabella.
The last time I had prepared this very recipe was about two years ago for a dinner party and I don't know why I don't make it more often....it's SO easy and SO delicious! {recipe below}
Katie and I 'met' on-line through blogging and met in person for the first time just this past January. She has a real 'prairie' blog titled the 'Pinke Post'. We had some good quality 'catching up' time before she headed to the valley this morning for her business meeting.
Katie was kind enough to let me stand on the up-hill side for the photo and scrunch down at the same time while Dominic snapped a few pics of us.
Because if she hadn't, our photo may have ended up like this {I'm 5'3" for some perspective}....
Katie and I have become really good friends over the past year and it's all thanks to social media. Can't wait for our next visit girlfriend ;)
Chicken Marbella Recipe
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients:
16 trimmed 6 oz chicken breasts (I cut them in 1/3’s) and or thighs (I use a combo of breasts and thighs)
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
¼ cup dried oregano
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup olive oil
1 cup pitted prunes
½ cup stuffed green Spanish olives
6 bay leaves
1 cup white wine
1 cup brown sugar
Additional parsley for garnish
Instructions:
In a large bowl combine all the ingredients EXCEPT brown sugar, wine and ½ of parsley. Cover and let marinate in the fridge overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Arrange chicken in a single layer shallow baking dish. Spoon marinade over chicken. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar. Pour white wine AROUND chicken. Bake for approx. 55 minutes, basting with pan juices. Sprinkle remaining parsley for garnish.
Serve with rice. For guests who don’t like olives or prunes, serve on the side.
When I have guests over, whether it be over night or just for a dinner party, I like to have something that can be prepared in advance and just popped into the oven when I'm ready to begin dinner. This leaves plenty of time for visiting and enjoying a glass of wine uninterrupted....priorities, right?!
When Katie arrived we began chatting about cooking and she told me she had just bought the ingredients to make one of the chicken dishes from a cookbook I had given her on a previous visit but hadn't had time to make it yet. It just so happened, this was the same recipe I chose to make for her visit....Chicken Marabella.
The last time I had prepared this very recipe was about two years ago for a dinner party and I don't know why I don't make it more often....it's SO easy and SO delicious! {recipe below}
Katie and I 'met' on-line through blogging and met in person for the first time just this past January. She has a real 'prairie' blog titled the 'Pinke Post'. We had some good quality 'catching up' time before she headed to the valley this morning for her business meeting.
Katie was kind enough to let me stand on the up-hill side for the photo and scrunch down at the same time while Dominic snapped a few pics of us.
Because if she hadn't, our photo may have ended up like this {I'm 5'3" for some perspective}....
Katie and I have become really good friends over the past year and it's all thanks to social media. Can't wait for our next visit girlfriend ;)
Chicken Marbella Recipe
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients:
16 trimmed 6 oz chicken breasts (I cut them in 1/3’s) and or thighs (I use a combo of breasts and thighs)
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
¼ cup dried oregano
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup olive oil
1 cup pitted prunes
½ cup stuffed green Spanish olives
6 bay leaves
1 cup white wine
1 cup brown sugar
Additional parsley for garnish
Instructions:
In a large bowl combine all the ingredients EXCEPT brown sugar, wine and ½ of parsley. Cover and let marinate in the fridge overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Arrange chicken in a single layer shallow baking dish. Spoon marinade over chicken. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar. Pour white wine AROUND chicken. Bake for approx. 55 minutes, basting with pan juices. Sprinkle remaining parsley for garnish.
Serve with rice. For guests who don’t like olives or prunes, serve on the side.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit, I love to hear from you! To leave a comment, click on the “Post a Comment” link below. Have a peaceful day.
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14 comments:
I'm very happy to have 'met' you both in bloggerville. :) i knew she was tall. but you being 5'3" puts it in perspective! :)
Great recipe! You should be making this a lot more often! I love having my pic taking with Katie because she doesn't make me look like an Amazon at 5'11"! Looks like a great evening.
That sounds like a wonderful treat. Glad that you guys had fun time together!
I wish we could all go on field trips to see eachother, ND and Cali would be on my list!!!
So nice when bloggers finally get to meet in person. Love the balsamic in the recipe!
What a great story. Glad you shared!
I love this recipe!! It's an old favorite from the original Silver Palate cookbook that I too have been making for years, but until reminded of it I wonder why I don't think of it more often. A great tip...it can be made ahead and serves up large crowds well too! I made it for my Dad's 70th birthday and 100 of his closest friends. Everyone asked for the recipe. Thanks for reminding me how wonderful it is Nancy!
I am EMOTIONAL reading this blog post Nancy. First, thank you for wonderful hospitality. Your warm welcome and kindness during my visit was just a treat. I love your kids, husband, ranch, cows and of course our amazing friendship. You are a dear friend. And secondly for all of you reading the comments, MAKE this recipe. It's a go-to, tasty, tremendous dish. I can't wait to actually make it now.
Hmmm. The chicken recipe sounds really good except for the prunes part!
That is one tall woman! lol ;)
That's so neat y'all met through blogs and then got to meet in real life! =) Looks like fun!
Thanks for following! I look forward so much to reading YOUR blog! =)
*MeMoRy
the photo of all of you lined up by height is just too funny!
the recipe sounds delicious! i'll have to cut everything back though to serve just my husband and me, which means we'll have quite a bit of wine left over. i'm sure we'll find a use for it though. ;o)
I am really going to have to try this recipe! Featured you today on www.GOODEnessGracious.com
I bet she was super stoked to find out you were making that recipe! Sounds like you had a great visit! I can't wait to meet fellow bloggers! Thanks for sharing the recipe. :)
YUM!!! This is right up my alley. Thanks for the suggestion!
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