Shish Taouk with Everybody Garlic Sauce The EZ Way

I don’t use skewers or sticks when I make it. If you prefer it skewered, knock yourself out. Either way works.

Traditionally, this recipe calls for boneless breasts. I prefer boneless thighs. The biggest problem with this recipe is to cook the chicken through without drying it out. The marinade helps, but chicken thighs hold up to heat better. 

I find they also taste better.

Most people buy the boneless breast meat. That makes sense. Boneless thighs are nearly the same price. Even a master butcher takes longer to debone a thigh than a breast.

You pay a premium for that time.

So de-bone them yourself.

It’s not difficult to do.  I included a video on how to do that lower down.Come to think of if, I rarely buy de-boned breasts. I debone those myself as well.

I should warn you to make this recipe outdoors on a grill. It will make a gawdawful mess of any skillet. A half-hour or so at max heat will clean your grill. It will suffer no ill effect. 

Your skillet? Kiss it good-bye.

The Marinade

This makes enough for about 1 kg, (2 lbs) of chicken. You can marinate in the fridge for up to three days (max). If so, double the marinade for the same amount of chicken.

• 120g (1/2 cup)  lemon juice
• 120g (1/2 cup) vegetable oil  if refrigerating, olive otherwise
• 300g (1 1 /2cup)  plain yogurt
• 8 cloves garlic, minced (or more) or Substitute  1 or 2 tbs of garlic powder
• 18g (2 tsp)  salt
• 6g (1 tsp) dried oregano
• 3g (1/2 tsp) ground black pepper
• 1 BAP ground allspice
• 1 BAP ground cinnamon
• 1 GP ground cardamom

Glossary: BAP means Big-Assed-Pinch. Use your thumb and three fingers. GP means Good-Pinch. Use your thumb and two fingers. Don’t you just love these technical terms?

A note on the ground cardamom. It’s pricey as hell and doesn’t keep well. I think it’s worth it. Call it a suggested optional ingredient. There is no substitute for it. Use it or omit it. Your call.

Marinade Method

Just fold it all together until well mixed. Don’t go all Terminator on it. Just fold or stir until mixed. Add the chicken and moosh it around. Get the chicken well covered with marinade.

Refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours.

Cooking Method

Oil your grill and preheat it until it is freaking hot. Just hot isn’t hot enough. It needs to be freaking hot. 

Place your hand, palm down about an inch or so above the grill. If you can count past five before yanking it away, it isn’t hot enough.

Cook until the edges char and internal temperature hits 170. Allow it to rest five minutes before serving. 

This is not a steak. It’s okay to flip and move it around on the grill.

Serve on a bed of steamed rice with grilled veggies. If you can find pickled turnips, they go great too.

Everybody Garlic Sauce

I call this sauce everybody sauce because it is so garlicy that everybody must eat it or no one should. I'm not kidding.

It keeps, refrigerated, for a few days. It’s great on grilled veggies too.

You will need a food processor to make this. Don’t bother trying without one. You will fail, guaranteed.

You will also need two small measuring cups with spouts.

Ingredients

• 3 heads (heads, not cloves. In cloves it's closer to 27 or 30 <not a typo>) of garlic, peeled
• Up to 4-5 cups of vegetable oil (canola/sunflower/peanut etc, not olive. This is VERY variable. It could be much less.)
• 1 lemon, freshly juiced or two tablespoons juice. (You can play with this to taste.)
• 1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste, the original recipe called for 3. I cut it down.)

Method

All ingredients must be at room temperature. Unless your food processor is tiny, don’t try to make this in a half quantity. 

The sauce is similar to a garlic mayonnaise on steroids. It's an emulsification. Oils and liquids don’t like to mix. Emulsification is when we force them to mix anyway.

• Dump the garlic and salt in the food processor. Run for 10-20 seconds.
• Stop the food processor. Scrape garlic down the sides, then run for another 10-20 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times until garlic starts to turn pasty and looks crushed. This is important.
• Start adding oil to the processor slowly. I mean really slowly. Pour it in a thin stream.
  

In French cooking, it’s called “en ficelle ” which means in a thread. You can’t add it too slowly. Go as slow as you can. Adding it too fast spells failure.

• Add a half cup (120ml) of oil. The garlic will start to emulsify and turn into a paste.
• Add ½ teaspoon of lemon juice, also in a thin stream.
  
• Wait a few seconds until the lemon juice is well absorbed.
• Repeat, alternating between oil and lemon juice. The process should take 8-10 minutes. Once the oil or lemon is not absorbed, you’re done.

Remember, you can’t add the liquids too slowly. Too fast is a disaster.

Deboning Chicken Thighs

Here’s that video. He likes to keep the skin on the thighs. That’s not a great idea for this recipe. Just pull the skin off.

Toss anything you trim, bones, gunk, and all, into a pot of simmering water. It will become a nice chicken stock in about an hour.

Happy Cooking!

This is where I put my rather pricey culinary education to, at least, some use.

It's a lot of fun for me. Hopefully, you enjoy it as well.

Cheers