A basic marinade is simplicity itself: a combination of acid, flavorings and oil. Although most of us don’t categorize the stuff in our wine racks as acid, wine certainly qualifies. It acts just like vinegar and citrus juice, albeit with a much milder and more complex flavor.
Labor Day weekend signals the winding down of the grilling season, so it’s a fine time to experiment with wine-based marinades. Marinating meat, poultry and fish before grilling is a tried-and-true technique for adding flavor and preventing foods from drying out.
Science has added another reason to marinate: Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California found that marinating chicken for even a brief time dramatically reduces potential carcinogenic compounds (called heterocyclic aromatic amines) that form on poultry, beef, chicken and fish cooked at high temperatures on an outdoor grill. (The Livermore marinade used vinegar for the acid instead of wine.)
With every good reason to marinate, all that’s left to learn is the what and how. The word comes from marinus, Latin for sea. And ancient people did use salt water to tenderize, season and preserve foods.
Instead of brine, we moderns use wine. A basic wine marinade may be made with white or red wine, oil and seasonings. White wine marinades usually are used for poultry, seafood, veal and sometimes pork. Red wine marinades lend themselves to red meats and game, pork, some assertive seafood (such as tuna, salmon and shark) and sometimes turkey. Oils can range from olive to peanut or canola oils. (Don’t worry about added calories because little of the marinade remains on the grilled food.)
Seasoning possibilities are infinite but would include fresh or dried herbs and spices, condiments such as ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, Worcestershire and soy sauce; sweeteners such as sugar, honey and molasses; citrus zest; and garlic, onions and shallots.
The secret is how the three basic elements are combined. For example, chef John Birdsall of Rita’s Catering makes an aromatic marinade for white meats and seafood using dry white wine. He says it’s even good for vegetables. Though it is not necessary to use a fine wine, he says, “Always use a good quality table wine for marination–something you’d be happy to drink. And it’s always fun to drink a wine in the same family as the one you use for marination.”
His white wines of choice for marinating are a medium-bodied chardonnay (not heavy, not oaky), a sauvignon blanc with citrusy rather than grassy flavors, or a good, dry riesling.
At Chicago’s Harvest on Huron restaurant, chef Alan Sternweiler’s marinade for salmon and red meats uses no oil at all, r(tilde)elying on pinot noir win(tilde)e and herbs for flavor.
It’s hard to ruin a wine marinade, but here are tips to ensure you don’t ruin your food.
1. Always marinate food in non-reactive containers. Shallow glass or ceramic dishes or heavy-gauge self-sealing plastic bags are perfect.
2. Always refrigerate marinating food, covered.
3. Turn food frequently during marination.
4. To avoid food poisoning, do not reuse marinades or use leftover marinade as a sauce or to brush on foods during the last 10 minutes of grilling.
5. Do not overmarinate delicate foods such as seafood (no longer than 1 hour, and shrimp no longer than 30 minutes), boneless chicken breast (no longer than 2 hours), and veal and pork (no longer than 4 hours). The acid in the marinade will break down the surface tissues. Larger cuts of beef, lamb, venison, buffalo and duck may be marinated overnight.
6. Don’t expect marinating to tenderize really tough cuts such as chuck, rump or round steak for grilling. It’s all right to marinate them, but instead of grilling, braise these meats.
For more recipes and tips, consult the following books:
“Marinades. The Secret of Great Grilling,” by Melanie Barnard (HarperCollins, 1997)
“All on the Grill,” by Michael McLaughlin (HarperCollins, 1997)
“Outdoor Cooking,” Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library (Time-Life, 1997)
SALMON IN PINOT NOIR MARINADE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: 30 minutes-1 hour
Cooking time: About 7 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Alan Sternweiler serves these fillets on a bed of mashed potatoes at Harvest restaurant.
1 cup pinot noir
2 shallots, peeled, sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
2 salmon fillets (8 ounces each)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1. Combine wine, shallots, thyme, sugar and peppercorns in non-reactive bowl. Pour over salmon fillets in a flat, covered dish or zip-seal plastic bag. Refrigerate, turning several times, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove fillets from marinade, pat dry. Melt butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add fillets and sear, about 30 seconds per side, turning once. Transfer to buttered baking dish big enough to hold fillets in one layer. Bake until just cooked through, about 4 minutes.
Variations: Deglaze skillet with a fresh batch of marinade. Strain. Return to pan and boil until reduced to 1/3 of its volume. Drizzle over fillets before serving.
Nutrition information per serving (without sauce):
Calories …… 465 Fat ……….. 29 g Cholesterol .. 150 mg
Sodium ….. 130 mg Carbohydrates .. 0 g Protein …….. 45 g
JOHN BIRDSALL’S WHITE WINE MARINADE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 cups
Use this for up to 3 pounds of chicken, duck, pork, seafood (especially shrimp and salmon steaks) and vegetables.
2 cups dry white wine (chardonnay, sauvignon blanc or riesling)
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 ounce dried mushrooms, chopped (porcini or
Chinese black mushrooms)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 sprigs fresh thyme or
3 teaspoons dried thyme
6 juniper berries, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
1. Combine all ingredients except orange zest in a small non-reactive saucepan. Heat to a boil over medium heat. Cool to room temperature. May be made in advance up to this point and refrigerated, covered. Just before using the marinade, add orange zest.
2. Combine marinade and meat in a covered non-reactive container or zip-sealed plastic bag and refrigerate. Marinate pork and duck up to 4 hours, chicken up to 2 hours, and seafood and vegetables for less than 1 hour, turning frequently.
Variations: Omit juniper berries and add 1/4 cup grainy Dijon mustard. Or substitute rosemary for thyme.
BASIC WHITE WINE MARINADE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 cups
2 cups dry white wine (chardonnay, sauvignon blanc or riesling)
1/2 cup olive oil
3 shallots, peeled, sliced
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, ground white pepper
Combine ingredients in non-reactive bowl. Use to marinate 2 pounds of poultry (no longer than 2 hours for boneless breasts), seafood (no longer than an hour; 30 minutes for shrimp), veal or pork (no longer than 4 hours).
Variations: Add 1 tablespoon dried oregano and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Or, for honey-mustard marinade, add 2 tablespoons honey and 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard. Add up to 2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs such as basil, thyme or rosemary.
BASIC RED WINE MARINADE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 cups
2 cups dry red wine (Beaujolais, Chianti, merlot, pinot noir)
1/2 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled, sliced
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, freshly ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in non-reactive bowl. Use to marinate 2 pounds beef, venison, duck, buffalo, turkey, tuna and oily fish such as salmon and mackerel. (Beef, game and duck can marinate overnight; fish should marinate no longer than 1 hour.)
Variations: Add up to 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, basil or sage.
