Oscar Chicken

Meals

10 Sept

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec at vulputate metus. Fusce ullamcorper elit id tellus malesuada, vel dapibus lorem sodales. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

This recipe is dedicated to my dad, who unknowingly kickstarted a family tradition that had nothing to do with the actual Oscars and everything to do with food. One year, he made this chicken—sticky prunes, tarragon, the whole glorious, fragrant ordeal—and then we sat down to watch the Oscars. I was a kid who hadn’t seen half the movies and found the whole thing pretty boring. But the chicken? The chicken was unforgettable.

The next year, as the Oscars rolled around, my sister and I asked, “Are we having Oscar chicken?” My dad looked both perplexed and proud, realizing that what he’d thought was a one-off had now become a Thing. And so, year after year, we had this chicken—not because we cared about the Oscars, but because it was an excuse to eat something amazing and fall asleep halfway through a three-hour show that my sister and I weren’t really paying attention to anyway

So, here it is: Oscar Chicken. Flawless, delicious, and worthy of its own standing ovation.

Oscar Chicken Recipe

Prep Time: 15 mins · Cook Time: 30 mins · Serves: 4
Print This Recipe

Ingredients:

640g skinless chicken thighs (6-8 chicken thighs

For the marinade:

8 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp capers + 2 tbsp brine
100g green olives (I use pitted but you can also use stone-in, just be careful when eating)
200g prunes
2 tbsp fresh tarragon, loosely chopped
2 tbsp sage, rough roughly chopped
150ml red wine vinegar
120ml oil (I do half olive oil and half vegetable oil)
1 tbsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp flakey salt

For the braise:

200 ml dry white wine
200 ml chicken stock

Directions:

Combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl and add chicken thighs.
Using your hands, mix together until chicken is coated. Your hands are your best tool here, crack the olives in half, give the prunes a tear and massage into chicken. This is a chunky marinade so were just looking to open the olives and prunes up a bit.
Cover in cling film and place in the fridge. Marinate for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 160ºC and heat a dutch oven pot on medium high on the hob. Add chicken thighs one at a time to pot until lightly browned. Add 200ml white wine to deglaze bottom. Add half of the chicken stock and all the marinade leftover from the bowl.
Cover with lid and place in the oven for 1.5-3 hours, checking halfway through and adding remaining stock if most of the liquid has evaporated.
Remove from oven and serve! I usually plate the chicken and ladle over the sauce. This goes great with mashed potatoes, potatoes gratin, leek casserole, whatever you like!