Ingredients
- 6 lbs. chicken breasts and thighs, trimmed of all excess skin and fat
- 2 Tb. dried thyme
- 1 1/2 Tb. ground rosemary
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 3 Tb. minced garlic
- 1/3 c. chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 3 Tb. white wine vinegar, or fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives
- 1/3 c. capers, drained
- 1/2 c. white wine, dry vermouth
- 1/2 c. fine bread crumbs, mixed with 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan
Preparation
Step 1
1. Combine all of the ingredients from chicken through capers in a large bowl and toss to blend well. Transfer to a large, ziploc. (I usually put that into another bag before refrigerating to catch any leaks.) Refrigerate overnight or at least 12 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the contents of the plastic bag into a large, flat baking dish. Arrange the chicken, bone side down, in one layer. Pour the white wine over the chicken and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the chicken and put back in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes, until browned and the chicken is cooked. Baste two or three times with the pan juices.
3. To Serve: Spoon the pan juices and seasonings over the chicken.
Variation: Chicken Ali Bab--Make substitutions as follows in Step 1. Any ingredient not mentioned is left in the recipe. Replace the thyme with 2 Tb. ground coriander, replace the rosemary with 2 1/2 Tb. ground cumin, replace the sundried tomatoes with 1 lemon, sliced very thin (in addition to the lemon juice called for in the above recipe), replace the mushrooms with 16 shallots, peeled and halved. Omit the olives. Add 2/3 c. dried apricots or prunes and 3/4 tsp. cinnamon.
In Step 2, instead of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, top the chicken with 2/3 c. packed light brown sugar sprinkled over the chicken when you first put it in the oven. Proceed with the directions above. Cilantro is great as an alternative to the parsley.