Camp Chicken Marbella
Olives, prunes, capers, and vinegar over foil-packet chicken. A dinner-party dish squeezed into one pot.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 8 oz
- cal / oz
- 90
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 450 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Foil-packet chicken | 2 packets, 7 oz total | replaces the roasting bird |
|---|---|---|
| Instant couscous | 1 1/4 cups dry | soaks up the braising liquid |
| Pitted green olives | 1/3 cup | drained hard, or the shelf-stable pouch kind |
| Pitted prunes | 1/3 cup | halved at home |
| Capers | 2 tbsp | drained, rinsed if you hate salt |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | stands in for a head of fresh garlic |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Light brown sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Red wine vinegar | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | optional, for the look of it |
Method
- Warm the olive oil in the pot. Add the olives, prunes, capers, bay leaf, oregano, and garlic powder. Stir for a minute until the prunes soften and the oil smells like the marinade.
- Add the vinegar and brown sugar. Let it bubble down for thirty seconds. This is the whole flavor of the dish, so do not rush it.
- Pour in 450 ml of water and bring it to a boil.
- Kill the heat, dump in the couscous and the chicken, stir once, and put the lid on. Five minutes.
- Fish out the bay leaf. Fluff with a fork, season with salt and pepper, scatter the parsley on top.
The original is a marinate-overnight, roast-a-whole-chicken affair, which is not happening on a stove with one burner and one pot. What survives the trip is the flavor engine: brine from the olives and capers, sweetness from prunes and brown sugar, and sharpness from vinegar. Those three fight each other in the right proportion and the fight is the dish. Everything else is a delivery mechanism.
Couscous replaces the roasting pan. It absorbs the reduced vinegar liquid that would otherwise pool under a chicken, so nothing is wasted and there is nothing to drain. Blooming the olives and prunes in oil before the water goes in matters more than it looks — dry heat pulls oil into the fruit and rounds the vinegar off. Add the water first and you get a sour, thin bowl instead.
Packing
Couscous, sugar, oregano, garlic powder, parsley, and the bay leaf go in one bag. Olives, prunes, and capers in a second, drained and double-bagged, since they leak. Oil and vinegar in dropper bottles.
Variations
- Swap the couscous for instant rice or quinoa if you need it gluten-free. Rice wants a longer sit under the lid.
- Skip the chicken and add a pouch of chickpeas for a vegan version.
- A splash of dry white wine in place of some of the water, if you are car camping and carrying a bottle anyway.
https://www.maritimeglutton.com/chicken-marbella-recipe