Marinades

Alrighty lovelies, here's my take on a great marinade. Simple, delicious, savory, easy cleanup, tender tender tender meat, and a plethora of flavors await you. A good marinade can take an ok dish to greatness. It can add so many different layers of flavor to your dish, without adding ginormous costs; and most of the time, it gets your prep going the day before.

A few basic rules of marinades:

Your meat needs to have direct contact with the marinade. Marinate in a ziploc baggie sitting inside a pan just in case it leaks. In the baggie you can easily squish the meat around to make sure it's all marinating nicely.

Flat cuts of meat marinate more evenly. Think steak.

Refrigerate your marinating meat.... then bring to room temp immediately before cooking.

Your meat should be trimmed, and ready to cook as soon as it comes out of the marinade. No point marinating it if you're just going to trim it off.

Marinades are not reusable. Once you've used it, chuck it. Otherwise, say hello bacterial infestation.

Marinated meat is STILL RAW MEAT! Treat it that way!

Ok, onto the recipes.

My FAVORITE marinade of all time is....

1 Tbps olive oil
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard
1-3 garlic cloves, finely minced
pepper to taste

Makes enough marinade for approx 3-4 steaks. You can always double it if necessary.
Whisk everything together... add your meat. Marinate overnight.

This is great for everything! Chicken tenders, pork chops... but especially steak. My DH is really not a steak fan, and when I use this marinade he asks for more! It's got such a great flavor, no steak sauce is needed. Make sure you blot the meat when you're ready to sear it. Wet meat doesn't sear quite as well.


Chicken marinade
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons whole grain mustard
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
ground black pepper

Whisk everything together. Put in your chicken, make sure all the fat is trimmed and it's ready to be cooked. Marinate overnight. Cook on a grill, or even in a pan, it's got a great flavor!

Teriyaki marinade

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
2-3 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (if you prefer a stronger ginger flavor then add in more)
4 tablespoons liquid honey (or 4 tablespoons maple syrup, DO NOT substitute brown sugar or white sugar or pancake syrup)
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons powdered meat tenderizer (optional, I never use this.)

Whisk all ingredients together. Add meat, marinate overnight.
What are some of YOUR favorite marinades? I can't wait to hear about them!
Enjoy!

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