Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Yoghurt Sauce

Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Yoghurt Sauce

I have travelled quite a bit in exotic lands like Turkey, Egypt and Greece in my youth. Needless to say it was on a shoestring budget and the best and cheapest food I could find at that time was shawarma/gyros/doner kebab and I've eaten quite alot of them if I may say so. At 1 to 2 USD a portion in those days. Though I would usually need 2 each time, I've always had a good appetite.

Then I lived a few years in Paris. Still on a shoestring budget. Though at 35 French Francs (about 5 euros) a portion it was quite expensive, but those gyros also tend to be quite big (fries included) so I would treat myself to one from time to time. On my 22nd Birthday, 2 young men fought in front of the best gyros shop at Place St Michel over the right to buy me a gyros as a birthday treat. I know, I was pathetic. They should have combined forces to bring me to the Jules Verne. Hub did, a few years down the road, so I married him. See, I redeemed myself.

I was at Armani today and bumped into MM. She has just spent a few thousand euros in order to earn a few thousand more. I only know how to spend, unfortunately, and only in the hundreds. But the Teenager is happy with his new jeans, shoes and T-shirt and Baby Girl with her capri pants (size 14 years!!!). I will return to the store next month if I still have some housekeeping money left over from this month. I may like a few pairs of jeans myself.

At Lidl the other day I bought a packet of Lebanese bread. Thought that I'd make Chicken Shawarma to go with them. And also a Garlic Yoghurt Sauce. Though I'm one of those people who only eat my gyros - plain. Yes, only bread and meat. So once again I had to depend on the family to taste out my sauce. The Shawarma can also be accompanied by a Hoummous or a Harissa Sauce. I had a ripe avocado so I made a Guacamole.

Cooked Chicken Breasts

Chicken Shawarma :

800g Whole Chicken Breasts (with side slits in each breast)

2 Garlic cloves (minced)

Olive Oil

1/2 Tsp ground Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp ground Cloves

4 Cardamom pods (bashed)

1/4 Tsp ground Nutmeg

1/2 Tsp ground Cumin

1 Tsp ground Chilli

1/2 Tsp ground Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence

250ml Yoghurt

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

2 Tbsp White wine vinegar

Garlic Yoghurt Sauce :

250g Greek Yoghurt

2 Garlic cloves (minced)

Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Lemon juice

Salt to taste

Parsley (chopped)

Mint (chopped)

I keep the chicken breasts whole because they tend to dry out quickly if they are too thin. But I have side slits in each breast so that they will absorb the marinade better. Marinate with all the ingredients for at least 3 hours. I use herbes de Provence instead of just origano because my favourite gyros in Paris always tasted of that. I loved it.

Marinated Chicken Breasts

Prepare the garlic yoghurt sauce and keep it chilled in the fridge until you need it.

Garlic Yoghurt Sauce

Naturally I do not have a vertical rotating spit which I probably would have had if I had married one of my Turkish suitors. But that would be another story for another day (if ever).

I use a hot oven to grill my chicken. First on normal at 220°C for 30 minutes and then the last 10-15 minutes under the grill. Line the baking dish with Lebanese bread so that they will absorb the oil and liquid during the cooking. Place the marinated chicken on top of the bread and add a few onions or chillis to be roasted if you wish. Turn the meat over half-way through.

To assemble, fill each half of the Lebanese bread with a salad leaf, followed by cucumber, tomatoes, onions, peppers etc. Then slice or shred the meat and add to the filling. Top with the sauce(s). I ate mine with BBQ sauce.

Mushroom Sauce (Sauce aux Champignons)

Yesterday's lunch

They like to show documentaries and investigations on French TV and we are fond of watching them. Though you usually feel bad after that since they rarely expose happy events in these programmes. The last one was about how Turks working in factories that sand-wash jeans contract deadly respiratory diseases.

Apparently the EU has banned the kind of sandwashing techniques that could kill, but of course Turkey hasn't. And to know that the jeans I am wearing could have killed those making them - I feel horrible. In another documentary piece I read that "jeans, and in specific cotton, is one of the most pollutant pieces of clothing that any one person can own. Unfortunately it takes 2/3 of a pound of pesticides to make one pair of jeans, and 1/3 of a pound to make a single T-shirt...That sort of ratio is unheard of in any other crop. While conventional cotton accounts for 2% of global agriculture it requires 10% of global pesticide use." (-JeansFX.com)

People working in garment factories are also exposed to cancerous dyes and other irritating chemicals besides the usual backaches, fractured finger bones etc. Plus they are usually paid really low wages. This is starting to take the joy out of my shopping.

We are advised not to wash our jeans too often (ahem - I don't) and wherever possible demand our suppliers to communicate and provide guarantees that they do not use child labour, do pay correct wages, do not use harmful sand-washing techniques or cancerous dyes etc. Almost impossible.

Actually I have been buying my clothes mainly from brands like Polo Ralph Lauren, Esprit, Armani, Burberry, Mexx, Guess and sometimes Gap (they produce in Cambodia - attention) - so a priori they have better ethics when it comes to production. I also try to buy clothes made in Europe even though they tend to be more expensive, but it still doesn't mean that the material wouldn't be produced in countries where they have laxer standards and pay low wages.

The best probably would be to revamp the way I consume, from only eating produce in season (and therefore buying from the area I live in) to buying fewer toys for the children (or buy more toys made of wood and other recyclable material) to watching what I buy when it comes to clothes and shoes. I enjoy the idea that when I spend, I help stimulate the economy, feed families etc - but kill and pollute, no thanks.

Soy, Sherry, Sage and Sesame Oil Roast Chicken with its grilled vegetables

On a lighter note, I made a Soy, Sherry, Sage and Sesame oil Roast Chicken yesterday for lunch and served it with Grilled Vegetables and a basic Mushroom Sauce. Thought I'll throw away the piece of paper I have scribbled the recipe on and keep it in my blog - though I really will have to get down to saving my posts or should blogger disappear one day so will my blog.

Sauce aux Champignons

Mushroom Sauce (proportions are mine and estimated) :

60g Butter

60g Flour

1 Onion (diced)

200g Champignons de Paris (sliced)

60ml White Wine

200ml Chicken stock

1 Bay leaf

Salt and Pepper to taste

100ml Crème frâiche

Roasting Juices from the roast chicken

Make a roux brun to start : melt the butter in a pot, brown the onions, remove the pot from the fire and add in the flour in one shot. Stir till the mixture thickens. Return the pot to the fire.

Add in the mushrooms, the wine, bay leaf and stir well. Pour in the hot chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes or more.

Add salt and pepper to taste, the cream and finally the roasting juices.

One can also use a mix of different mushrooms. I have blogged about my Chicken with Chanterelles and it's quite similar, for example.