Chicken Shish Tawook using a Cast-Iron Grill Pan

Ingredients

• ~ 3 lbs of chicken breast, cut into large pieces

• 1 cup greek yogurt

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced/crushed

• 1 tsp oregano leaves

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp allspice powder

• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom

Recipe

THINGS TO DO IN ADVANCE—

1. Mix all of the ingredients and let the chicken marinate for a few hours (or overnight).

2. Soak some wooden skewers in water for at least 30min if not a few hours. When ready to assemble the meat onto the skewers, pat the skewers dry and ‘grease’ them with non-stick spray or oil. The soaking is to prevent the wood from burning, and the oil is to prevent the meat from sticking to the skewer. (Alternatively, you can use metal skewers, or no skewers at all!)

WHEN YOU’RE READY TO COOK—

1. Assemble the pieces of chicken onto the skewers, leaving about an inch at either end of the skewers. Try your best to match the pieces of chicken on each skewer by thickness and size so as to allow all pieces on each skewer to cook evenly and at the same time. In other words, only small pieces on one skewer, large pieces on another, etc.

2. In a cast-iron grill pan, pour enough oil to coat the pan 1/8 inch. Then, turn on the heat to medium-low.

3. Once the pan is evenly heated up and the oil is shimmery (the pan should be hot to the touch), begin laying your skewers down in the pan. Do not overcrowd the pan! 4-5 skewers should be more than enough (depending on how large you cut your chicken pieces). Alternatively, if you are not using skewers, make sure there’s 1/2 inch between each piece of chicken.

4. Flip the skewers (or pieces of meat) every 5 minutes; first ensuring a nice sear on each side, then ensuring the pieces are cooked through. It should take about 25-30min depending on how large (thick) your chicken pieces are.

5. Serve with toum (garlic sauce), hummus, rice, and/or pita bread!

Enjoy!