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1
Pat chicken thouroughly dry with paper towel and sprinkle sides with salt and pepper In a 10 to 12-inch skillet melt two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of oil over high heat.
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2
Add chicken skin-side down and reduce heat to moderate.
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3
Fry until sides are golden brown.
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4
(Don't worry if the inside is pink, we will be cooking the chicken more later) Transfer the chicken to a plate.
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5
Add the celery, carrot, and onion to the fat remaining in pan, stirring occasionally, and cook until the vegetables are soft but NOT brown.
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6
Return the chicken to the pan and lay the parsley and bay leaf on top.
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7
Pour in 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
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8
Bring to a boil over high heat.
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9
Lower the heat and simmer for thirty minutes, basting it from time to time with the juices in the pan Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of water, the 1 1/2 cups of prunes, the lemon juice, and the sugar.
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10
Place on high heat.
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11
Bring prunes to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until prunes are tender.
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12
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
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13
Remove the chicken from the skillet and arrange attractively on an ovenproof platter.
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14
Scatter the cooked prunes over the top.
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15
Cover the platter loosely with foil and put it into the oven.
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16
Press hard on the vegetables with a spoonback releasing the juices.
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17
Discard vegetables.
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18
Set juices aside.
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19
Melt two tablespoons of butter in the skillet and add the flour.
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20
Cook on high heat until flour is golden brown.
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21
Pour in the 1/2 cup of reserved prune juice and the 1/2 cup of reserved pan juices (if there is less then 1/2 cup, make up for it by augmenting it with the chicken broth) Boil until sauce is smooth and thickened.
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22
Serve at once.
