# YaYa's recipe needed



## Yak

Hi!

 I am looking for a recipe for chicken that is simular to a place in Florida called YaYa's.It is the best fastfood chicken i ever tasted they soak it in some unknown to me mixture of spices and i think citrus of some form then they grill it on gas grills.Wonderful stuff but its been a few years since i have been back home to get any and want to try and make it my self.Any help would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## marmalady

Well just did a search and the owner is Greek; the name 'Ya-Ya' means grandmother in Greek.


Soooo- I'm thinking that perhaps it's a take on Greek chicken? If so, lemon juice, garlic, and oregano would play predominantly in the flavors.


----------



## Michael in FtW

Since marmalady found out that YaYa's is Greek that gives a starting point to make a guess .... having never eaten there myself.

I found several recipes for Greek Grilled Chicken ... and most used a fairly standard Greek grilling marinade:

BASE: Olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt - most included either red or green onions. HERBS: Oregano, oregano and parsley, or mint.

Hope this helps.


----------



## Constance

I found a recipe for Ya Ya Chicken that is nothing like what you are looking for, but it looked so good, I  thought I'd post it anyway. 

Chicken Yaya

Ingredients
1 frying chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 pound medium shrimp in the shell
3 cups chicken stock
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 yellow or red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, deribbed, and chopped
1 cup seeded and chopped tomato
8 ounces andouille or spicy sausage, thinly sliced
1-1/2 cups long-grain white rice (not Instant Rice)
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
1/4 cup finely chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Preparation
Advance Preparation:

Rinse the chicken with cold water, then pat dry, cover and refrigerate. Set aside the flour. Set aside the olive oil. Shell the shrimp, reserving the shells. Butterfly the shrimp by cutting deeply along the top ridge of the shrimp; remove and discard the dark vein. Cover the shrimp and refrigerate. Place the shrimp shells and stock in a medium saucepan, bring to a low boll, reduce the heat to very low, cover the pan, and simmer the stock for 20 minutes. Strain the stock and let cool to room temperature. Discard the shells. Prepare the garlic, onion, pepper, tomato, and sausage, setting these aside together in a bowl. Place the rice in a fine-meshed sieve, rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear, then drain the rice and set aside. In a bowl, combine the cooled stock, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, salt, cayenne, pepper, cloves, thyme, and basil.

Final Cooking Steps:

Finely chop the parsley and set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place a deep 12- or 14-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken on a baking sheet or on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper. Sprinkle the flour on all sides of the chicken, then shake each piece to remove all excess flour. Add the olive oil to the frying pan and, when hot, add the chicken, skin side up. Regulating the heat so that the chicken sizzles, but the oil never smokes, cook the chicken on both sides until golden, about 8 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the vegetables and sausage, reduce the heat to medium, and sauté the vegetables until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and sauté for 2 minutes until heated. Add the chicken stock mixture. Add the chicken, skin side up.

Bring the liquid to a low boil, then cover the pan, and place the pan in the preheated oven. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. At this point the rice should be tender, and an instant-read meat thermometer should register 170 degrees when inserted deeply into a thigh and the juices should run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, scatter the shrimp across the rice, recover, and continue cooking. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer the chicken to a heated serving platter or 4 heated dinner plates. Stir the shrimp into the rice, transfer the rice to the platter or plates, sprinkle on the parsley, and serve at once.

Yield
Serves: 4 as an entrée


----------



## ironchef

Google for a "Chicken Soulvaki" recipe. I'd bet that it would pretty close to, if not exactly what you're looking for.


----------



## Yak

THankyou for the replys and recipes.I think you got it close Ironchef.I will try ig with the whole birds insted of just chunks of breast meat.What herbs and spices besides garlic and mint are common on greek cooking I would also like to try and make Gyros meat since you cant find a samitch joint around these parts that has it.


----------



## ironchef

Yak said:
			
		

> THankyou for the replys and recipes.I think you got it close Ironchef.I will try ig with the whole birds insted of just chunks of breast meat.What herbs and spices besides garlic and mint are common on greek cooking I would also like to try and make Gyros meat since you cant find a samitch joint around these parts that has it.


 
These are the herbs that I usually see and taste other than mint and garlic in the Greek food that I've eaten:

Dill
Rosemary
Oregano
Marjoram
Thyme
There's probably more, but that's just from what I've experienced.


----------



## JoJo

*YaYa's chicken*

If I had the recipe, it would probably include Penzeys lamb seasoning (It smells exactly like YaYa's chicken), but since it doesn't taste like YaYa's, you would have to add salt to the lamb seasoning and marinate the chicken beforehand in a viniger based solution with the spices. I think I heard they do this for a couple of days before they grill it, but I might be wrong on that. When they grill it, it has the dry powdered spices on it. Good luck, and when you finally get it right, let the rest of us know.

Turkish oregano, rosemary, cumin, celery, sweet paprika, black pepper, onion, garlic, spearmint and ginger.


----------

