Grilling - Part 2 - Marinades

Now for those tasty, tenderizing marinades. 

There are usually 2 reasons you use a marinade.  One is to add flavor and the other is to tenderize.  When marinating, it's important to know your beef cut and to plan ahead.  While the two different types of marinades may contain similar ingredients, the key is the length of marinating time.

If you're just looking to add flavor to a tender steak like T-Bone or Ribeye, you only need to marinate for 15 minutes to 2 hours.  Whereas cuts like Top Round or Skirt steaks really benefit from a tenderizing marinade.  The key to tenderizing these cuts of beef is time and ingredients.  You'll want to marinate your steak for 6 - 24 hours.  A tenderizing marinade must contain an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice, vinegar, wine or natural tenderizing enzymes that can be found in papaya, ginger, kiwi, pineapple and figs.  Now for the marinades.

When making, allow 1/3 to 1/2 cup of marinade for every pound of beef.  

If you want to use some of your marinade as a baste or sauce, reserve a portion of it before adding it to your beef.  Marinade that has come into contact with uncooked meat must be brought to a full rolling boil for at least one minute if you plan to use it as a baste.

Again, these recipes are for beef but there are several that I think would be great on chicken or pork.

Balsamic-Mustard Marinade

2/3 cup prepared balsamic vinaigrette

2 Tbsp. Dijon style mustard

Argentinean Steak Marinade

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup spicy steak sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 tsp. dried oregano leaves

Line-Jalapeno Marinade

1/2 cup red currant jelly, warmed

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup chopped, seeded jalapeno peppers

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Ginger-Soy Marinade

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. minced fresh ginger

1 tsp. freshly grated lemon peel

Red Wine-Herb Marinade

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

Simple Southwest Marinade

1/2 cup Italian dressing

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. honey

 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Chili-Cilantro Marinade

2/3 cup prepared Italian dressing

2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. chili powder

Orange-Cumin Marinade

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. chili powder

Place all of the ingredients for your choice of marinade in a food-safe plastic bag along with your steaks and refrigerate.  

Grilling - Part 1 - Rubs

It's that time of the year again... Grilling Season!  I love to grill and love to try different rubs and marinades so I'm doing a two part post giving you suggestions for both.  I'll also give you a couple tips that hopefully you'll find helpful.

Rubs are seasoning blends applied to the surface of roasts, steaks and burgers.  They add flavor but don't tenderize.

Dry rubs consist of herbs, spices and other dry seasonings.

Paste-type rubs, which are perfect for roasts, contain small amounts of wet ingredients, such as oil, crushed garlic or mustard.

They can be applied just before cooking or up to two hours in advance, just remember to refrigerate until cooking time.  The rubs below are specifically for beef but I'm game to try them on chicken and pork.  Each should make enough rub for 2 - 4 steaks, depending on how heavy you want to flavor your steak.

Dry BBQ Rub
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Smoky Paprika Rub
2 Tbsp. smoked or Spanish paprika
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Espresso Rub
2 Tbsp. finely ground espresso coffee beans
1 Tbsp. garlic pepper
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ancho chili powder

Ancho-Chocolate Citrus Rub
1 Tbsp. ground ancho chili powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. freshly grated orange peel
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mustard-Peppercorn Rub
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 Tbsp. mixed black, white, green and pink peppercorns or black peppercorns, cracked
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt

Lemon-Pepper Rub
2 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 large cloves garlic, crushed

Simply combine the ingredients and apply evenly to all sides.  Cook beef to desired doneness.

I Didn't Know That - Grilling Vegetables

As well as chicken, fish and seafood on the grill I also like vegetables but haven't taken the time to try grilling them myself.  That is about to change now that I know how simple it can be.

1.  Be careful not to overcook vegetables when grilling, watch them closely.  (This, I assume, is something that will take some time getting used to.  I know that most vegetables I've eaten that were cooked on the grill still have a 'nip' to them so this, I feel sure, will come with practice.)

2.  The simplest way to grill vegetables is to brush them with oil, then rub them with minced garlic and fresh herbs.  Cook vegetables over direct heat alongside meat, poultry, or fish on an oiled grill.  (This sounds like another good use for the basket grill like the one you cook fish in.  I've also run across some throw away pans that have holes in the bottom.  They would be perfect for grilling vegetables but I think I would spray them with non-stick 1st so the vegetables can be turned easily while cooking.)

3.  If you want to add vegetables with meat, poultry or fish onto skewers, select vegetables that will cook in about the same amount of time.  For example, shrimp cooks very quickly, so the best choices would be cherry tomatoes, green onions, or mushrooms which also cook quickly.  Any meat that takes longer to cook goes well with vegetables like bell peppers, onions or zucchini.   (This, of course makes sense but for a beginner like myself I think I'll start with cooking my vegetables by themselves until I actually learn how long each seems to take and how thick it should be before I pair it with a meat/seafood.)

Now that I know a little more about grilling I can't wait to crank up the grill.  Spring is here and so are my taste buds.