What Is Shish Tawook?

In the Turkish language, “shish” means skewer, and “tawook,” also sometimes spelled tauk, means chicken. Put together, the two translate to mean chicken skewer or chicken kebab. 

Believed to have first been served during the Ottoman Empire, shish tawook quickly became popular throughout the entire Middle East, spreading into Egypt and Levant during the Ottoman’s rule. 

It features pieces of chicken that are soaked in a yogurt marinade infused with garlic, lemon juice, and lots of warm spices. It is then grilled or baked until the chicken is fully cooked and tender. 

Thanks to the marinade, chicken shish tawook always turns out juicy and is virtually fail proof. It’s one of my all-time favorite recipes and is always what I order when we dine at Middle Eastern restaurants. Luckily, it’s simple to make at home, too! 

What’s the difference between chicken shish tawook and chicken shawarma? 

Both dishes are made with boneless skinless chicken and Middle Eastern spices, but they are not the same. There are key differences in how the two recipes are created and prepared. 

• Shish tawook is created with a creamy, yogurt-based marinade that features garlic, warm seasonings, and tomato paste. As a result, it has a rich, bold flavor and a distinct hue. 
• Alternatively, shawarma does not use yogurt or tomato paste. Instead, an olive oil-based marinade creates a stronger citrus flavor with warmer seasonings and a slightly spicier flavor. 
• Traditionally, shish tawook is grilled on skewers, and shawarma roasts long and slow on a spit. Although, you can also make oven baked chicken shawarma at home.

What is Butter Chicken?

Butter Chicken, also known as murg makhani, is an Indian curry dish made of chicken that's coated in a well seasoned tomato gravy that includes butter and cream.

Chicken is marinated in yogurt, spices, garlic and ginger, then later cooked in a tandoor, but it can also be pan fried, grilled or oven roasted. After that it is tossed with the simmered, richly seasoned tomato sauce.

This butter chicken recipe is easy and straightforward. It just involves a bit of extra time. It's one of those hard to mess up dishes as long as you follow a few simple directions and tips.

If you love Indian food this is a must try recipe, and if you've never had Indian food this is such a great place to start!

This recipe proves that it's often the simplest ingredients that can yield the best end results.

What is Naan?

Naan is flat-like, yeast leavened, oven baked bread. It originates from Iran and Central Asia. It's a very popular bread in India, where you'll usually find a slightly thicker variation.

Naan can be leavened or un-leavened, the Indian versions are usually leavened. It's common to use torn pieces of naan for scooping and eating food by hand.

Traditionally Indian Naan is cooked in a tandoor oven but not many of us own one of those. So here we make it without a tandoor oven and use a heavy cast iron skillet instead to get a very similar result.

I've tried making naan several different ways using different ingredients like water, buttermilk, milk, or yogurt. I've also tried with and without egg, or with just egg yolk. Then using different fats.

Of course there's also the option to use different types of flour (bread flour, all-purpose flour, or even wheat flour). Then you'll notice some recipes include baking powder.

You’ll also find a variety of mixing methods and dough consistencies.

This recipe is my favorite blend of ingredients for it, with the ratios and method to achieve a super soft, lightly chewy, perfectly fluffy and bubbly naan. It's my idea of the best Naan!

Looking for more ways to make kebabs? Try my two super popular recipes - Steak Kebabs and Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs.

A Must Try Kebab Recipe!

In this tempting summer dinner recipe you get an abundance of goodness, and they're healthy too.

Tender, well seasoned chicken and lightly charred and smoky bell pepper, zucchini and onion. What's not to love here?

It's a restaurant quality Greek style recipe you'll find to be a staple every summer!

It's made with cranberries, pomegranate juice, bananas, almond milk, greek yogurt and ice. It's so easy to make and can be ready in minutes.

I love this recipe in the fall and winter when fresh cranberries are in season. It's a great way to eat raw cranberries!

Feel free to halve the recipe if you only need enough for 1.

One great thing about smoothies is how versatile they are, there are countless combinations to them.

One of my favorite ways to make a breakfast smoothie is to add quick oats, which you can most definitely add to this recipe to make a more filling breakfast out of it.

Other healthy additives you can add to this recipe include things like chia or flax seeds, protein powder, greens (spinach/kale), or nut butters.

You can also replace the raspberries with any other berry you have on hand or you can replace the almond milk with soy, coconut or cow's milk.Here's just a basic recipe to get you started. Enjoy!

Raspberry Kale Green Smoothie

• 2 handfuls fresh or frozen chopped kale
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1 ripe banana , peeled and frozen
• 1 orange , peeled (I just use a knife to cut the peel off)
• 1 apple , cored (gala, green whatever you prefer)
• 1 cup original almond milk
• 4 ice cubes (optional)

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Yields 2 servings.

]]> https://www.cookingclassy.com/raspberry-banana-smoothies/feed/ 21 10426 https://www.cookingclassy.com/banana-berry-frozen-yogurt/ https://www.cookingclassy.com/banana-berry-frozen-yogurt/#comments Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:53:00 +0000 https://www.cookingclassy.com/2012/06/banana-berry-frozen-yogurt/ Banana Berry Frozen Yogurt - and Ice Cream so healthy it can be called a nutritious (and so delicious) breakfast! Yes indeed. Officially this is Frozen Yogurt but I'd say it's good enough to be called and compared to Ice Cream. I was amazed with how well this turned out considering I didn't add any cane sugar (other than that of the sugars in the Greek yogurt) and also considering how incredibly simple it was to make.

I've mentioned before I like to have dessert every day, so I've decided maybe I should start making some of them a bit healthier (just once in a while =) and more figure friendly. In my opinion this does make an amazing breakfast, I honestly felt great about serving it to my kids for breakfast.

After one bite my three year old said "Mom, I need two Ice Creams." One just wasn't going to cut it. This is definitely kid approved. I wish I always had these ingredients on hand so I could have this for breakfast or dessert everyday. Enjoy!

I made the swirls using a chop stick (in case you were wondering), I wanted it to be like the soft serve frozen yogurt you get at the ice cream shop but I don't have the soft serve machine to do the swirling so I had to improvise.

The better comes because of the unbelievably tender chicken this recipe yields from long hours of slow, low cooking and also how much time it gives the spices to meld and develop in this incredible dish.  I'm quite certain this will now be my only method/recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala.  How could I go back to the long, laborious method now?

Never tried Indian food before?  Then now is definitely time!  I was thinking, how do you describe Indian food and it's enticing, delectable flavors in two words?  Bold and exciting!

If you have never tried Indian food before, it's likely you have tried the spices it contains in several alternate dishes but Indian food combines all those rich spices into one amazing dish.  So go on and excite your taste buds with this flavorful, spice packed Indian dish.