Chicken Marsala with olives and oranges

Chicken drumsticks create delicious dinners that can be prepared ahead of time and are always a crowd pleaser.  I recently served these at a friend's gathering with 2 generous dishes of sticky drumsticks accompanied by a warm sweet potato and kale salad.  The guests battled over the last of the chunky sourdough croutons that were crunchy yet plump with the orange and marsala sauce - so good - have lots of serviettes handy as everyone will gnaw the bones clean!                                 Enjoy!    Colleen

Chicken Marsala  by Feed Your Inner Cook

Preparation   5 - 10 min to prep marinade.  Marinate overnight or at least 4 hours
                      another 15 min or so for basting and garnishes
Cooking        approx  50 minutes - 1 hour. 
Serves           allow 2 drumsticks per person and 3 (or 4!) for hungry appetites

Ingredients    (This recipe can easily be doubled if you like)

8 - 10 chicken drumsticks
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
10 - 12 stalks of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Shake dried chilli flakes

1 teaspoon dried mint
1 tablespoon green peppercorns  (these come in a small tin - near spices in supermarket)
2 teaspoons salt flakes (1 for marinade, 1 before serving)
120 ml red wine vinegar
80 - 100 ml Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 red onion - cut into slivers
6 -8 garlic cloves - leave skin on. Slightly crush - will cook in the skin and go syrupy.
150 gram black olives - pitted.  Don't cut up
200 gram large prunes - pitted.  Don't cut up
2 Navel oranges -  (Navels are seedless oranges) first use the Zest of 1 Navel orange, then peel both oranges and remove each segment from the membrane to get flesh only membranes.  This is sometimes called 'supreme orange segments'.  (Reserve some for last 10 minutes).  Squeeze the pulp and add the juice to the marinade
120 ml Marsala wine.  Also known as Madeira.
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Freshly ground pepper - good amount - to your taste 
handful of dry roasted almonds - roughly chopped.  Add in last 10 minutes. 1 sourdough baguette torn into chunks for croutons.  Add in last 10 minutes.

Fresh mint leaves for garnish
Toasted flaked almonds for garnish

Method
Use a large freezer bag or large lidded glass container to hold marinade and drumsticks.
First combine the ground coriander, cumin, ginger, thyme, bay leaf, chilli, dried mint, green peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of salt flakes.  Shake or stir to mix.
Pour in the vinegar and olive oil and stir to combine well.
Add in the slivers of red onion, garlic cloves, black olives, prunes and orange zest, orange juice and mix into the oily paste.  
Toss the drumsticks into the paste so they are coated. Cover or seal the marinading chicken the store in fridge overnight.  If possible toss or massage a few times to ensure each piece is being coated in the marinade.
Next day
Preheat oven to 180 -190 oC
prepare large baking dish (or 2) for the marinade and drumsticks.
Pour the marsala into the marinade container and slosh around to get all the gooey flavour. Then pour over the chicken.
Place about 2/3rds of the orange segments around (add final 1/3rd in last 10 minutes) 
Sprinkle over the capers and then the brown sugar.
Bake for approx 35 - 40 minutes.  Baste a few times if possible
Check chicken should be almost cooked through and golden
Remove from oven. Baste well. Grind over some pepper and season with the remaining teaspoon of salt flakes.
Add the final 1/3rd of orange segments, chopped roasted almond chunks and turn the bread chunks over into the sauce so they can soak it up but bread top will go crispy and golden.  Return to oven for approx 10 minutes until golden.
Serve with a scattering of toasted flaked almonds and fresh mint leaves.
Great alongside a big bowl of warm salad, brown rice or garden salad. 
                                Enjoy!   Colleen