Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Turkish Yogurt Marinated Chicken

This recipe is another hoisted shamelessly from the folks at WorldWide Recipes (as linked in previous posts), and I refer to it as 'Turkish' because that was their term for it. I question how Turkish it is, but that really wasn't the point anyway. Below, I've listed my slightly modified version.

Marinade:
2 cups (500 ml) plain yogurt
1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil
3 Tbs (45 ml) lemon juice
1 onion, finely chopped
2-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
A good couple squirts of hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Protein:
6-8 pieces of chicken (about 1.5lbs, I think)

Mix all ingredients in a zip-top bag or sealable bowl and add the chicken. Shake about some to make sure the chicken gets coated and refrigerate for 6-12 hours (I just stuck it in for 24; I don't think it hurt anything).

Now, since I seem to have forgotten to get a picture of the marinade or the chicken prior to cooking, I'll just move along to cooking. I used an outdoor grill for this recipe, and in retrospect, I wouldn't recommend it again. This would probably be better baked at 350-400F, as I think the gentler cooking process would help the marinade adhere better to the meat. Regardless, I grilled it for ... well, until it was done, flipping once to ensure proper doneness.

Ok, so it may not look particularly appetizing here. It still tasted good. Besides, chicken thighs are hard to cook prettily.

After the chicken finishes cooking, let it cool for a bit and salt to taste. The end-product of my version didn't have much in the way of residual marinade on it, as you can see:
As you can see in the top-right corner, I served this with the leftover garlic bread from my Brazilian Lime Marinated Salmon.

Lessons learned:
As I mentioned previously, I wouldn't grill the chicken next time. The chicken was very moist, but didn't carry the depth that the marinade seemed to suggest (the marinade itself smelled wonderful). I might also consider adding an herb garnish (basil or rosemary) for a bit of added flavor at the end.

2 comments:

Shari said...

I'd think rosemary would overwhelm any of the other subtle flavors if you added it.

Given that you marinated for 24 hours, I'm surprised the flavors weren't stronger.

BTW, if you want to make better food porn, you have to slice it at an angle and shoot with the camera a micron from the food. ;-)

Shawn said...

Pfft. I take my photos to *my* specifications, not those of FoodTV ;)

In retrospect, it seems odd that the recipe called for "salt to taste" in the marinade. I don't usually taste them, so maybe that step goes *after* cooking :p