Among a small, diverse group of people there is a tradition of using dried fruit in their main dishes. My Norwegian family prepared fruited dishes while my Italian mother-in-law, Mafalda, never did. So here was my chance: a San Luis Obispo caterer has served this chicken for ages. I was intrigued. I looked on the internet for a recipe. The ingredients sound so Fratelli Perata friendly. And I had just purchased an Instant Pot. It needed to be tested. I cobbled together 3 recipes. Here we go, knowing I had no background using the Instant Pot and had never cooked the Marbella. I think everyone was pleased, especially with a glass of Fratelli Perata Petite Sirah to pair with the chicken.

4 chicken thighs, frozen bone in with skin            
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup avocado oil                  
1/8 cup dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine vinegar          
Salt (I didn’t use because of salt in capers and olives)
about 10 prunes, pitted and rough chopped        
3 grinds of pepper
2/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives         
1 cup water ½ cup capers            
3/4 cup brown sugar
6 bay leaves  
 
Ok, don’t laugh, but I used frozen chicken thighs that I simply put in the pot on its rack. Then I added all the ingredients in the order listed. This isn’t what most recipes say to do, but it’s what I did and it worked.

Set to Pressure Cook, on High for 15 minutes. Since the chicken thighs were frozen, it took almost 25 minutes to begin cooking. Don’t worry (I already did that for you).

When time is up, release the pressure. Open per your Pot’s safety procedure. Test chicken temperature. At 15 minutes my chicken had a few raw spots and was not up the temperature. Yours might be, don’t overcook.

Set to Pressure Cook, on High for 2 minute intervals, until done, if needed.

Next checkpoint, the chicken looked like fully cooked delectable eats.

Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Use slotted spoon to remove bay leaves, then spoon olive mixture over chicken. 
Set pot to normal sauté and simmer the remaining liquid until slightly thickened and reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce on the chicken and serve with Petite Sirah.

Note: You know about prunes. If you want to substitute dried apricots, that’s ok, but not dried pears or apples.