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shish taouk with toum (chicken kebabs with garlic sauce)

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Shish Taouk with Toum (Chicken Kebabs with Garlic Sauce)

When I mentioned this week's contest (Your Best Use of Lemon, Thyme and a Grill) to my wife, she looked at me and said, "There is no more perfect dish on the planet to enter into this contest than Shish Taouk." And you know what? She was right. This is a dish that she ate ravenously as a child in Lebanon, and it's no surprise why. The freshness of the lemon- and thyme-marinated chicken,

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Greek-style yogurt
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon za'atar
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon pimentón (smoked paprika)
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 12 crimini mushrooms
  • 12 peppadew peppers
  • 12 cipollini onions
  • 2 zucchini, cut into large chunks
  • 2 blocks of halloumi cheese, cut into large chunks
  • 2 lemons for grilling, cut into rounds or wedges
  • 4 rounds of fresh Syrian bread
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • For the toum (garlic sauce)
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Large pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 large egg white
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • Small bowl of ice water
  • Up to 1/2 cup of high-quality mayonnaise

Directions

  • The night before you want to cook: Mix the first 9 ingredients, from the yogurt to the pimentón, in a large bowl. Cut the chicken into medium-sized chunks, toss in the marinade, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to grill.
  • To make the toum (garlic sauce), put the garlic cloves, the salt, and 1/4 of the lemon juice in a blender. Blend on medium speed until the garlic is chopped, scraping down the sides as necessary. With the blender still on medium speed, add the egg white through the feed tube and continue to blend. Add half the oil in a slow, thin stream. At this stage, the emulsification should have taken hold. Switch to a slow blend and slowly add the rest of the lemon juice. Add the rest of the oil in the same fashion.
  • Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of ice water while still mixing on low. At this point you should have a sauce with the consistency of a light mayonnaise. Taste for salt and to check the strength of the garlic flavor. If needed, either to thicken the sauce or to cut the raw garlic punch a bit, whisk in up to 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. Reserve the sauce for dressing your grilled shish taouk.
  • When's your ready to make the kebabs, preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
  • Place the onions in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, to parboil the onions. Remove from the heat and rinse with cold water to cool. Peel and discard the skins and and save the onions for grilling.
  • Take the chunks of halloumi and zucchini, the onions, mushrooms, peppers, and lemon slices and toss them in a bowl. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat, then place each ingredient on its own metal or pre-soaked wooden skewers for grilling.
  • Take the chicken from the fridge and skewer the chunks as you did the veggies. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
  • Grill each skewer until it reaches your desired degree of doneness, remove to a platter, and tent with foil to keep warm until all the skewers are complete.
  • To serve, place a mix of grilled ingredients on a round of warmed Syrian bread, top with a generous helping of toum, sprinkle with chopped fresh thyme, and squirt with a grilled lemon wedge. Devour at will.

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