20 Years of the “Fix-Up Chicken”

Tricia and Don in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Met at a dinner party Tricia almost didn’t show up at.

Twenty plus years ago Don and I were both invited to a dinner party at the Colony House in Dorset, Vermont for a fix-up dinner. It worked!!!

The original dinner was Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate cookbook. Our hostess served it with white rice. A variation of that dinner served with potatoes has been our children’s most requested meal for the past twenty years. I am fairly certain it is based solely on the taste and the kids never thought about the wonderful coincidence that our large family was created on a November evening when their parents attended a candlelit dinner party in a historic home in town. I am a potato girl and most often serve this chicken with Cloud Nine Potatoes. The other night by popular request, I served it with mashed red potatoes. Birdie likes her mash potatoes with the potato skins included and Scotty mashed them with half and half and lots of Vermont butter. We added a spinach salad which had about 9 different vegetables in it.

Fix-Up Chicken

This “recipe” has no measurements included. I use the appropriate amount of chicken for my group (including enough for leftovers) and then create a very generous marinade. Proportions can meet your specific tastes. The meal can be assembled and refrigerated the day before and cooked the day of your dinner.

olive oil

sherry vinegar

champagne vinegar

a bag pitted prunes

a jar of pitted Spanish green olives with the juice

a jar of capers with the juice

a half a handful of bay leaves

chopped garlic (I used jarred)

dried oregano

fresh ground salt and pepper

any open white wine

a large jar of artichoke hearts with the juice