[Sca-cooks] oop::: Zankou chicken

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> > Got a question:  A friend of mine recently ate a dish called
> > _Zankou_ chicken at an eatery in LA.  She said it was served with a creamy
> > garlic paste that was absolutly wonderful.  She didn't know what was in the
> > paste but said it seemed like it was garlic whirled in a food processor.
> >
> > Has anyone heard of this dish or knows of a creamy garlic (not salad
> > dressing) sauce.  She is trying to figure out the recipe.
> > Thanks!
> > Phillipa
>
> A quick web search reveals the existence of a restaurant _called_ Zankou
> Chicken in Glendale, CA. They evidently sell a house specialty called
> garlic chicken. The cuisine is at least nominally Middle Eastern; I can
> think of several candidates for a ME garlic sauce; my first bet would be
> something like skordalia, which is eaten in Greece but may actually be
> Turkish as well. It's a sort of mayonnaise made with soaked bread (or
> sometimes mashed potato), lemon, plenty of either raw or cooked garlic,
> and olive oil beaten in until it's all thick and sort of creamy.
> Actually, rather a lot like some versions of aioli.
>
> So, do we know how the chicken was cooked?

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. It turns out that Zankou chicken is a
chain of rotisserie chicken restaurants, and among the various sides
such as pita, salads, etc., you can get this garlic sauce. I would bet
serious money that skordalia would get you very close to what this place makes.

Bearing in mind sight unseen and no hard evidence, my first attempt
would involve marinating chickens (whole if I had access to a rotisserie
or other spit-roastig setup, split and flattened at the rib joints for
grilling if not) in a drizzle of olive oil, maybe half a lemon, perhaps
a whole one, squeezed and added to the marinade so the peel's oil gets
in there too, maybe some cumin, chopped garlic, black pepper, maybe some
mint and/or cilantro. I'd let this sit at room temp for an hour or so,
or perhaps overnight in the fridge. Salt (coarse, Kosher or sea) goes on
at the end, just before cooking.

For the sauce, try this:

SKORDALIA ME PSOMI -- Garlic Sauce With Bread

12-18 slices white bread
1 head (about 12 cloves) garlic
2 cups olive oil
1/3 cup vinegar
parsley
Calamata olives

Trim and discard the crusts from the bread; soak in water and squeeze
out thoroughly; measure to make 2 cups. Clean the garlic. Pound with a
mortar and pestle or whirl in a blender. Add the bread, a little at a
time, and mix or blend well with the garlic to a pastelike consistency.
Add the oil and vinegar alternately, beating constantly. If the sauce is
too thick, add a little fish broth or water to thin it. (But dilute with
fish broth only when you plan to serve the sauce on fish; if you will
serve it with eggplant, dilute with water.) Garnish with parsley and the olives.

NOTE: This is a thick sauce with a pudding-like consistency. It does not
flow off the spoon.