garlicky yogurt-marinated chicken kebabs

POW! i made these skewers to bring to a 4th of july grilling potluck. they were great because they are super-portable, you can assemble them ahead of time, and they are made from chicken thighs, so they stay moist even if you are too dazzled by sparklers to properly man the grill.

the day before you want to eat these, you should start marinating them. you can do it a few hours ahead of time, too, but i think it's better to have them soaking overnight, if you can.

the marinade ingredients are above, with the notable exception of the yogurt and the less notable exception of the aging half onion i found in the fridge and put in after taking this picture.

basically it involved lots of garlic, parsley, peppercorns and coriander seeds that i crushed a little, lemon zest (subsequent to this i chopped the lemon into smallish chunks and stuck it in too), and whatever other herbs you have around - i used some fresh thyme and oregano and dried sumac and za'atar and a little cumin. i put these all in a tupperware thing and added about a cup of yogurt (it was for about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken). it doesn't really matter how much you use - you just want to have enough to coat the chicken.

the chicken i used was free-range boneless skinless chicken thighs. as you can see above, i cut them against the grain into basically like three strips from each thigh. you can make the pieces whatever size you want, of course. it'll just affect their cooking time. once they were cut up, i tossed them in the marinade, made sure they were all coated, and left them in the fridge overnight. i stirred them a couple of times while they were marinating, just to make sure everyone got nicely acquainted.

i decided to keep it simple with these, although you could use any number of vegetables. i think things like zucchini or yellow squash would be good, or maybe little parboiled potatoes, or even (ugh) mushrooms, if you like that sort of thing. ooh, or olives! those would be really good. but i ended up just using an onion, some lovely little heirloom cherry tomatoes, and some lemon chunks. the lemon was really good because you could squeeze it over the other stuff after grilling. it's probably a good idea to let the skewers soak in some water for an hour or so before assembling the kebabs so that the wood doesn't catch on fire once they go on the grill.

i sort of threaded the chicken onto the skewers satay-style, to make sure it was not going anywhere. just alternate chicken and whatever else you're using. then grill them! or you could probably put them under the broiler of your oven. or, and this is the best method, get someone else to cook them for you! thanks, clifton!

*ingredients*

marinade:

1 lemon, zested and then cut into 8 or so pieces

4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

big handful parsley, torn or roughly chopped

1/2 - 1 teaspoon each of peppercorns and coriander seeds, lightly crushed (you can use the bottom of a heavy pan or a mortar and pestle, etc)

1 tablespoon za'atar (or could use dried thyme, too)

2 teaspoons sumac (optional - just if you happen to have it)

1 - 2 teaspoons cumin

fresh herbs if you have on hand - oregano, thyme, mint would all be good

boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 onion or several small onions, cut in ~ 1 inch chunks

1 lemon, cut in ~ 1 inch chunks

cherry or grape tomatoes, squashes, olives, etc - whatever you want to put on there. try to make sure that things are somewhat uniform in size.

spicy-sweet carrot-ginger jam/chutney

carrot jam is wonderful.

you can have it on toast. you can have it in a cocktail. you can make it into salad dressing. you can do that thing where you put it all over some goat cheese or cream cheese, like people do with jalapeño jelly in texas.

whatever you want to do with it, make it today!

this is how i cut up the carrots. i used 6 medium-sized carrots, which made like 3 cups-worth when diced. something like that, anyway. but yeah, you should dice them up. or you could probably use a food processor or grater or even buy pre-grated ones, if you like. i like the texture of the diced ones, though, and felt like chopping, so i went old school with it.

this shows all the spices i used. i think it is barely legible if your eyes are young or your computer is large. however, you can also look at it here. it is much better and easier to read that way.

you definitely do not have to use all of these spices. if you have them all, great. otherwise, use what you have. i happened to have lots of ginger, so i used powdered, fresh, and crystallized. one could also just use one of these. also, instead of ras el hanout and za'atar, you could use more cumin and cinnamon and maybe some dry thyme and/or oregano. it won't be exactly the same, but it should still be good.

by way of measurement, it's more a proportional thing, but that's a pretty small plate, so it was about a teaspoon or so of the larger amounts of spices, and maybe a tablespoon and a half of the crystallized ginger and like 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of coriander. i also used 1/4 of a lemon, cut up into smallish pieces (skin and all) and 1/4 - 1/3 cup of brown sugar. finally, i put in a few grape tomatoes, cut in 1/4s (maybe 8 or 9 tomatoes).

the main point is that this can be as complicated as you want - if you just want to make it with a few spices and no tomatoes, i think it would still be good. you could also add dried fruit if you like that sort of thing.

so. once you have all of your stuff chopped up and your spices gathered, heat up a smidge of oil in a saucepan (medium heat). then add the garlic and fresh ginger, if you're using that. after 30 seconds or so, add the spices and let them toast for a few seconds. things will start smelling exciting and exotic.

then add the carrots, sugar, lemon, tomatoes, etc. also some water - enough to cover the other ingredients, but not too much more than that. turn up the heat until it boils, then turn it down to medium-low and let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are super tender and everything is nicely cooked down.

mine took a couple of hours or maybe an hour and a half or so. don't let this intimidate you though! it is mostly time in which you are not doing anything in particular with the carrots. you can watch an episode of murder, she wrote or read your new issue of sunset magazine or otherwise behave like an old lady. or you could do something hip. the old lady stuff's just what i did. you only have to stir it every 15 minutes or something. also you may need to add a little more water at times, if it is looking too dry. it's not a big deal.

once the carrots and lemon are soft and the tomatoes have kind of melted into the other stuff, use a potato masher to smush everything together. the lemon will be all soft and will just mix in with everything else easily. you can also use a food processor or immersion blender if you are not poor like me. although i do like the texture you get with the potato masher.

then let it cool and put it in a jar in the fridge. it should keep at least a week or so, i imagine.

and yes, i did put it in a gin & tonic and yes, it was delicious.

for a nice salad dressing, add a tablespoon of carrot jam to a couple of teaspoons of olive or other oil and a teaspoon or so of dijon mustard. add water to thin it out and that's it! it's good on those salads with cheese in them - like goat cheese or blue cheese and walnuts.

it would also make a fine sandwich spread for turkey or duck or a salmon burger or things of that nature.

you can also just eat it out of the jar.

flash-cooked cold asparagus with middle eastern dip

this is barely a recipe - it's more like a technique plus a notion that come together into a great snack or side dish. the asparagus i used here were tiny thin ones, but you could also use fatter ones - just allow them to cook longer.

basically, bring some salted water to a boil (there is actually a recipe for this - the comments are pretty entertaining). add your asparagus. this is totally not difficult, but you do want to make sure you use a pot big enough for it to all fit in there without breaking, of course.

let it cook until it's as tender as you like. the stalks i used were so tiny that they got bright green almost immediately. i think i left them in for about 45 seconds or so, and they were still pretty al dente, but pleasantly so.

the next part is the important part - using tongs or something, put them immediately into a bowl of cold water with ice. this stops the cooking more quickly and keeps them that nice verdant green. once they are cool, you can store them in the fridge until you are ready for them. i put mine in a tupperware thing on some paper towels to help them dry out more. you could also use a clean kitchen towel, of course, and thus be less wasteful, but i didn't have one.

for the dip, i was feeling like something kind of middle eastern, so i used 2/3 greek yogurt to 1/3 mayonnaise (this is a rough proportion - you can use however much of each you like) and added salt, a couple of tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese, and some middle eastern/north african spices/mixes - za'atar, ras el hanout, and sumac. i used about equal amounts of the za'atar and ras el hanout and perhaps half that of sumac. just play around with it and see how much of each you like - start slow and keep tasting it until is is delicious.

because i bought the za'atar and ras el hanout already mixed, i am not sure exactly what was in these particular ones, but the links go to wikipedia things about them that describe what's going on. the ras el hanout is fairly spicy, which was nice. you should be able to get these at a grocery store with bulk spices (always the way to go, so you don't end up with a giant jar of cardamom that you will never use) or a middle eastern grocery or certainly on the internets. they're worth seeking out, because you can also use them in things like rice, eggs, etc. za'atar is particularly good as a rub for roast chicken.

anyway, it's a good idea to mix this up and let it sit for awhile so the flavors meld. then you can dip away with the asparagus and whatever else you have around. it would also be good as a sandwich spread or whatever else your little heart desires!

perhaps not an ice cream topping, though.