First: a point of clarification… The marinade is the sauce itself. To marinate something is the act of putting something into a marinade.
A marinade it is a way to infuse more juiciness and flavor into a piece of meat. It almost always is a good idea whenever you are cooking a whole piece of meat. The following is a list of the basic ingredients for most marinades.
1/2 C EVOO
1/4 C citrus
1/4 C vinegar
PLUS Your favorite spices . Usually something like paprika, Worschestersire, a bay leaf, cumin and garlic. Feel free to sample ingredients from the lists below:
Other alternate ingredients:
Onion, Tabasco, Lemon or Lime juice, Mustard, Basil, Soy, Peanut butter, etc.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. For those of you who would rather just follow a recipe, a few recipes are listed below.
Grandpa’s Satay Marinade
2 cloves garlic
1 TBL grated ginger
1/4 CU soy
2 TBL rice vinegar
1 TBL sesame oil
1 TBL brown sugar
Lime or lemon zest
1 TBL scallions
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 bunch cilantro
2 TBL Sambol (hot chili sauce) or Sriracha
Instructions
1. Blend all ingredients in blender, and place in zip lock plastic bag.
2. Add meat and marinate for 1-12 hours in refrigerator
This is great to marinate chicken skewers prior to grilling.
Carne (Beef) Asada Marinade
Jeff Smedstad from Elote Cafe in Sedona
Mix in blender
1/4 C each: Sour cream, brown sugar
2 TBL each: vinegar, lime juice, olive oil
To taste: (crushed or chopped) fresh garlic, arbol chilies, mexican oregano, chopped onion
1 tsp: ground ancho chili, salt
Pollo (Chicken) Asada Marinade
Jeff Smedstad from Elote Cafe in Sedona
Mix in blender
Juice from two oranges
2 TBL each: honey, olive oil
To taste: (crushed or chopped)
1 tsp: Cumin, granulated garlic, salt, dried ancho chili, black pepper, alspice, ground chipotle chili
Chicken Breast Marinade
1 cup orange juice reduced down to a syrup
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Toasted Whole Coriander
salt, pepper
Anise
2 tbl honey
Basil
Cilantro
3 tbl EVOO
Split sauce and reserve one half for basting after the chicken is done.
Marinate 2 to 4 hours In the other half of the marinade.
Satay Marinade
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
1.5 lb meat (flank steak)
Cilantro
Scallions
¼ cu soy
¼ cu veg oil
2 tbl sambol (hot chili sauce)
¼ cu brown sugar
2 cloves pressed garlic
½ cu creamy peanut butter
¼ hot water
2 tbl lime
2 tbl Asian chili sauce
Freeze meat 30 minutes, cut in half-then thin cut into thin strips against the grain. Weave onto skewers (30-40), dunk into marinade bowl. Let set in fridge 1 hr. to absorb. Arrange on broiling pan, cover skewer handles w/foil. Rack @ 6” from top, meat facing outward, broil 4 minutes, take out and flip, broil 3 more minutes.
Marinade; cilantro, scallions, ¼ cu soy, ¼ cu veg oil, 2 tbl sambol, ¼ cu brown sugar, 2 cloves pressed garlic. Blend
Satay Dipping Sauce; 1 tbl cilantro, 2 scallions, ½ cu creamy peanut butter, ¼ cu hot water, 1 tbl soy, 2 tbl lime, 2 tbl Asian chili sauce, 1 tbl brown sugar, 1 clove garlic.
