Chicken Shish in Sweet Confit Garlic Marinade

Although this delicious Chicken Shish in Sweet Confit Garlic Marinade recipes goes heavy on the garlic, the flavours are sweet and gentle, thanks to the way the garlic is gently cooked in oil until it becomes soft and mellowed, before going into the marinade. This dish is another barbeque winner from Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich.

Chicken shish in sweet confit garlic marinade

Read more about the book in my full review of Chasing Smoke by by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich.

Chicken Shish in Sweet Confit Garlic Marinade

The amount of garlic in the marinade may seem a little excessive at first, but please do try it, as the sweet, delicate flavour is simply fantastic. You don’t want to lose this by burning it, so it is really important to grill these skewers over a gentle heat. This is a great recipe to make ahead, as you can confit the garlic cloves a day or two in advance of making the marinade, and marinate the chicken for up to 48 hours before cooking.
Servings 6 skewers
Author Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich

Ingredients

  • 800 g (1 3⁄4 lb) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into large pieces (or left whole if oven-roasting)

For the confit garlic

  • 1–2 heads (about 150 g / 5 1⁄4 oz) of garlic, broken into cloves but unpeeled
  • 100 ml (3 1⁄2 fl oz) vegetable oil

For the marinade

  • 1 batch of confit garlic cloves
  • 3–4 tbsp garlicky confit oil
  • 1 small bunch of parsley,chopped
  • 1 heaped tsp flaky sea salt
  • a few twists of freshly ground black pepper
  • zest of 1⁄2 lemon (use the juice on the cooked chicken shish)

Instructions

To confit the garlic

  • Place the unpeeled garlic cloves in a small pan or metal tray and cover with the oil. You may need a touch more, depending on the size of the pan – it should be enough to just cover the cloves. Set on the side of the grill where there is the lowest heat (or set it over a very low heat on the stove) and slowly bring to a boil. Once bubbles start to appear, cook for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside in the pan to soften and cool entirely. You can store the cooled garlic and oil in the fridge for up to 48 hours before using.

To make the marinade

  • To make the marinade, lift the cooled cloves out of the oil (retaining it for later) and squeeze to pop the flesh out of the skins and into a small bowl. Discard the skins. Use the back of a spoon to smash the confit garlic into a pulp, then stir in the chopped parsley, salt, pepper, lemon zest and 3–4 tablespoons of the garlicky oil. Pour over the chicken pieces, mix well to coat, then thread the meat onto skewers. Place in the fridge and leave to marinate for anything from 1 hour to 48 hours.

To cook the chicken shish

  • When you are ready to cook, get the BBQ nice and mellow. Grill the skewers for 5 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. Dab any remaining marinade or, if there’s none left, some garlicky confit oil on the chicken, then flip once more and cook for a final 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and squeeze the lemon juice all over them before serving.

 

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Kavey Eats received a review copy of Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich from publisher Pavilion Books. Book photography by Patricia Niven.

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4 Comments to "Chicken Shish in Sweet Confit Garlic Marinade"

  1. NickyB

    I made this for tonight’s tea and confirm it’s totally gorgeous! Sweet confit, tart zest, bitter char on the chicken … loved it!

    Reply
  2. Nancy

    I’ve never done anything like this before! I’m going to have a BBQ party with my friends this weekend and I’ll try to make this. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

    Reply

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