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Halal-Cart-Style Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs on the PBC

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    Halal-Cart-Style Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs on the PBC

    I was intrigued by mnavarre 's topic on Halal Cart Grill Roasted Chicken, spatchcocked on the Weber. He loosely followed this Serious Eats recipe.

    I was also intrigued by jhapka 's use of PBC's turkey hanger to make a stack of tandoori-style boneless skinless chicken thighs. He followed in the footsteps of kill2grill , who first wrote about the method with lamb and chicken.

    So, by shamelessly copying much those three good cooks' approaches, I also added my own spin, modifying the Serious Eats recipe as follows:

    First of all, I doubled the marinade for the 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs called for in the recipe. When it comes to delicious marinade, more is more, IMO.

    Secondly, I substituted za'atar for the oregano in the marinade.

    Thirdly, many Middle Eastern dishes are made better with the addition of a lot of sumac, IMO. ( mnavarre did this too in his version of the sauce. I upped the ante by sprinkling the marinated chicken with it prior to grilling.)

    Fourth, I made the sauce more toum-like by adding a bunch of minced fresh garlic, tamed a bit in the microwave.

    Fifth, I served the chicken as a delicious stuffed pita with a lot of that garlicy, tangy sauce, topped with thinly-sliced sweet onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. So, deviating from the recipe, I chose not to serve the chicken and sauce over rice. Rice is said to be full of arsenic anyway.

    And finally, I chose to use the 10 inch PBC skewers loaded with no more than 1 lb of thighs per skewer in hopes that the boneless skinless thighs would be safely cooked to the center in about an hour. It worked. The chicken was juicy with crispy browned edges.

    So here's my spin on a PBC Skewer version of Halal Cart-Style Chicken as follows:

    INGREDIENTS:
    For the chicken:
    • Marinade:
      • 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
      • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 2 tsp za'atar
      • 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
      • 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
      • 1/2 cup light olive oil
      • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
    • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat (6 to 8 thighs)
    • Sumac for seasoning the chicken prior to skewering


    For the sauce:
    • 1 cup mayonnaise
    • 1 cup Greek yogurt
    • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (microwave the whole peeled cloves for 30 sec before mincing to minimize the raw taste)
    • 2 tsp white vinegar
    • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
    • 2 Tbl sumac
    • 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice or more, to taste
    • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
    Pita bread
    Thinly-sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet onions

    *******************************************

    DIRECTIONS:
    1. Prepare the marinade for the chicken by combining all marinade ingredients in a deep container and then using an immersion blender to whip it to a smooth consistency. A blender could also be used. Season to taste with salt and pepper
    2. Pour 1/2 of the marinade over the boneless skinless chicken thighs which have been placed in a one-gallon sealable plastic bag. Seal the bag tightly, eliminating excess air, and massage well to work the marinade around the pieces. Reserve the rest of the marinade in the refrigerator until after the chicken has been cooked. Marinate the chicken for 1 to 4 hours, turning the bag occasionally. Marinate no longer than 4 hours because the chicken pieces can change texture if marinated too long.
    3. Prepare the sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients, whisking to combine. Cover and store in fridge until ready to serve.
      1. Note: I microwave peeled cloves of garlic for 30 seconds to minimize the hot raw flavor of fresh garlic when used in a fresh (not cooked) sauce. This is a modification of a method suggested by Cook's Illustrated.
    4. Prep the PBC: start the PBC with a load of Kingsford Professional using the 15-10-10 method, if that works for you.
    5. Remove the chicken from the bag, piece by piece, sprinkling sumac generously on both sides of each piece before skewering. Do not wipe the marinade off the chicken pieces.
    6. Skewer no more than 1 lb of chicken per PBC Skewer, including any bits and bobs of the meat that you may have trimmed off for uniformity's sake.
    7. When the smoker is ready, hang the skewers of chicken. Keep the PBC temps at 350° to 400° by cracking the lid of the smoker as needed. Leave the second rebar out, if possible, to aid in temperature management. Cook time should be about an hour.
    8. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skewers to a cutting board. Slice the chicken from the skewers in generous chunks and place in a large shallow dish.
    9. Pour the remaining marinade, warmed in the microwave, over the smoked chicken chunks.
    10. Serve with pita bread, split open to form a pocket, by first adding a generous dollop of the white sauce, then a bunch of chicken chunks, then more sauce and the thinly-sliced fresh sweet onions, tomatoes, and cucumber on top. Keep napkins handy.
    11. Serve with homemade tabbouleh and hummus with fresh veggies. If you'd like rice, the recipe is in the Serious Eats link provided above. Mnavarre says it's a delicious rice recipe.
    Action shot of PBC working its magic on the hanging skewers of marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs:

    Click image for larger version  Name:	Halal Cart Style Chicken and Drumstick Lollipops in the PBC.jpg Views:	87 Size:	124.7 KB ID:	759953

    I used my home-fashioned split grate so I could hang the skewers and also make up a batch of chicken leg lollipops (thanks, FishTalesNC , for the inspiration) at the same time for a friend.

    And thanks again to mnavarre for his original ingenious adaptation of the Serious Eats recipe for his spatchcocked grilled chicken approach, and to kill2grill and jhapka for their posts about using a PBC turkey holder for a huge pile of boneless skinless chicken thighs.

    Kathryn

    Edited to acknowledge kill2grill's part in getting me to try this PBC method. It had originally slipped my mind that he was the first to post about skewering meat on the PBC turkey hanger to make schwarma. I always enjoy giving credit where credit is due.
    Last edited by fzxdoc; October 23, 2019, 01:18 PM.

    #2
    For some reason I’m not seeing the pics?

    Comment


    • fzxdoc
      fzxdoc commented
      Editing a comment
      Hmmm. I'll upload again. Thanks!

      K.

    #3
    I see it now and oh boy...yum!!!! Love chicken thighs!!!

    Comment


      #4
      That looks awesome, Kathryn! You’ve got me thinking about just how to adapt what you’ve done to the OG pellet pooper ...

      Mike

      Comment


        #5
        kill2grill look what you started. Looks fantastic Kathryn! Thanks for relaying the microwaving garlic trick.

        Comment


          #6
          Oddly, I was just thinking about doing this very thing. I need to redo my original version first and take pictures this time, Just need time to cook when there's actual light. And your microwave hack with the garlic has given me an idea for something to try with the sauce. Gonna have to make this happen soon.

          Glad I could be an inspiration.

          Comment


            #7
            That looks sooooo goooood!! Thanks for the detailed recipe, and those lollipops *drool* 👍🏻

            Comment


              #8
              fzxdoc Toum and Brazilian Molho de Alho are kitchen crack.

              The owner of the Lebanese place near me has started giving me toum by the cup full when I take home leftovers or have take out.

              Comment


              • fzxdoc
                fzxdoc commented
                Editing a comment
                That would be my downfall. Lucky you to have a good Lebanese restaurant close by. I'd be eating there at least once a week.

                I'm going to look up Molho de Alho. Thanks for the tip on that.

                Kathryn

              #9
              kill2grill , you did indeed start the threading-a-pile-of-chicken-thighs-on-a-hanging-skewer-in-the-PBC-thing. I remember now. Thanks for the nudge. It was a great way to make a tasty supper. Leftovers were just as delicious too.

              When I searched, your original post did not come up. Sometimes the search engine here has me scratching my head.

              Anyway, thanks again.

              Kathryn

              Comment


                #10
                "...kill2grill , you did indeed start the threading-a-pile-of-chicken-thighs-on-a-hanging-skewer-in-the-PBC-thing..."

                The search engine and I aren't getting along, so I give up trying to not bother other people about this. Where is this mysterious information by kill2grill? Curious minds .... are curious! Thanks....

                Comment


                #11
                fzxdoc IowaGirl https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...ndoori-chicken

                Comment


                #12
                Thank you very much, folks! My curiosity will soon be satisfied as soon as I dig into these threads.

                This is making me want that PBC even more than I did before.....

                Comment


                • Craigar
                  Craigar commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Christmas? Why wait until Christmas when Craigvemberfest begins on November 2nd. Ha!

                • pkadare
                  pkadare commented
                  Editing a comment
                  fzxdoc and Craigar - now that the kids are out of the house I'm all about instant gratification. Who needs to wait until December?

                • fzxdoc
                  fzxdoc commented
                  Editing a comment
                  I like your approach, pkadare .

                  K.

                #13
                Thank you, jhapka , for those links to kill2grill 's chicken schwarma, lamb schwarma, and tacos al pastor using the PBC turkey hanger for skewering the meat. I searched high and low for them with no luck.

                Thanks once more, kill2grill , for thinking up this technique for the PBC. It sure is a fun cook. Yet another fun cook, I should say, since they're all fun.

                Kathryn

                Comment


                  #14
                  To be perfectly clear...I discovered the turkey hanger hack on Facebook/YouTube for the first run with Tacos Al Pastor. That is what inspired applying it to lamb schwarma and tandoori chicken. I'm not sure if I ever posted the first cook on here? If not, that can easily be fixed.

                  Comment


                  • fzxdoc
                    fzxdoc commented
                    Editing a comment
                    No, kill2grill , you didn't post the Tacos Al Pastor cook. It would be great to read about it if you have the time.

                    Kathryn

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