I think oven broilers are incredible inventions – there’s so much you can do with them! Take these chicken kebabs for example. On a normal day I would’ve used a char-grill, but the oven’s broiler works wonders too, leaving their edges browned and golden, juicy and tender without being overcooked, stringy or dry. Here in Egypt, all the gas ovens are set with an overhead broiler within the oven’s compartment, making it easy not just to brown the face of casseroles, veggies, and pizzas, but also to broil poultry and cook it to perfection.
It also doesn’t take long – to my surprise! I always assumed that kebabs were a hassle (something you’d eat out, because who had the patience to make kebabs at home?) – but that’s just a myth! I was delighted at how easily this recipe came together, where the only real complication is the color-coordination of the bell-peppers you’ll be using between each cube of chicken (it’s more of an artistic complication – there’s no real order, so unless you’re OCD like me, it wont matter in the least!). Very minimal fuss is involved here, where the foil-lined tray means little clean-up afterwards (those who know me know that my kitchen is so small it can’t handle a dishwasher – they also know that cleaning up after is my least favorite thing ever!). But its not just the cleanup that makes these kebabs wonderful – its all in the braise.
The braise came about after I had created a salad dressing one day, thinking that with the mustard and honey combined together, it would taste awfully good on chicken.… so today, with a few more ingredients, the dressing recipe morphed into a delightfully tangy braise that turned my little cubes of chicken into the tastiest little morsels, both tender and sweet.
Feel free to broil your kebabs longer than 30 minutes… especially if you really enjoy the charred flavor. This recipe is easy, tastes amazing, and also looks pretty impressive dished out on a platter with garnish. Feel free to add pineapples and apricot pieces to your skewers too – remember, there are no real rules in this little kitchen. Have fun!
Ingredients:
750g Chicken breast fillets, cubed
1 large Italian onion (yellow or red will do fine too), diced
½ each of a red, green, and yellow bell pepper, diced
Marinade:
5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
Salt, pepper, Italian spices to taste
Braise:
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons mustard
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons vinegar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Additional items:
10 Wooden skewers, soaked in water for an hour
Method:
In a glass bowl, mix chicken cubes with marinade ingredients. Cover with cling-film, and leave in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (up to 5 hours)
While chicken is marinating, put all the braise ingredients into a jar, and shake vigorously.
Remove skewers from water, and thread in one cube of bell pepper, one cube of chicken straight out of the marinade bowl, and one cube of onion. Repeat until you fill the skewer, and finish the 10 skewers.
On a greased foil-covered tray, lay out your kebabs. Pour some braise into a shallow dish, and with a silicone brush, brush the braise over the face of the kebabs.
Turn on the oven broiler, and slide tray underneath (the closer to the broiler’s flame, the better). Broil for about 10 minutes.
Remove tray, turn the kebabs over, and braise the other side with the brush once again. Bake for another 10 minutes.
Continuously roll over and braise the kebabs until they turn gold in color and braise starts to thicken over the kebabs and sizzle. It’s OK if the tips of the peppers and onions start to slightly char.
Once golden and cooked through to your liking, remove kebabs from under the broiler (feel free to broil and braise for longer if you like your chicken a little more charred), and serve alongside salad, rice, or on their own. Enjoy!
