Five minutes. That’s all the time it takes to make a big improvement in the dinner you put on the table.
I’m talking about a marinade. One you can whip up cheaply and–honest–in just five minutes, with ingredients you might just have on hand.
Sure, you can buy marinades. But did you ever read those labels? Most of them list as their first–make that primary–ingredient either high-fructose corn syrup or water. Neither of which you would put in your homemade marinade. A lot of sweetener in a marinade adds to problems with scorching the meat. And, I would add, both ingredients are the cheapest things that manufacturers can use. So why pay $2, $3, $4 for a few ounces of corn syrup or water?
Now, a few words on what to expect. If you have been disappointed with marinades in the past, maybe you didn’t give them enough time to work.
While the marinade can be mixed in minutes, the process of marinating does take time. That means the cook must do a little planning ahead. Make that quick marinade the night before, pour it over the beef, pork or lamb and let it marinate in the refrigerator for tomorrow’s dinner. When you come home, all you have to do is fire up the grill and pull the flavored meats out of the refrigerator.
If you are the kind who wakes up with a burst of energy, you could take those few morning minutes to make the marinade and pour it over chicken. The marinating time would be about eight hours, which is acceptable for chicken with the skin on, though it can marinate longer.
Some recipes say a one- or two-hour marinade is adequate, but that’s only true for fish. Marinating poultry and meat for 8 to 24 hours adds more flavor, though, admittedly, more than 24 hours may make the meat mushy if it is a high-acid marinade.
There is one other plan-ahead option that is a favorite of mine. When you are at the market, pick up a couple extra pounds of chicken, or any meat you usually fix, and put it in a freezer bag with some homemade marinade. Put it in the freezer. The night before you plan to cook it, pull the meat from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw. The meat will get the benefits of the marinade while it thaws.
Marinades are nothing new, of course. But they have caught on. Log onto the search engine Google and ask for chicken marinade, and the Web site will offer 114,000 hits. A bit much to wade through.
When you’re picking recipes, watch out for those high in brown sugar, honey and molasses, because the sugar can increase the chance your meat will scorch. And be skeptical of marinade recipes that call for chopped garlic. If you use it, brush the garlic bits off before putting the meat on the grill or under the broiler, for the garlic will burn and become bitter.
What’s as important as the ingredients is the time the food marinates, so remember these basics:
Fish, which is already tender, is the only thing that picks up any flavor in a brief 30 minutes at room temperature. An hour or two in the refrigerator is OK.
Poultry absorbs flavors more quickly than meat. Figure on three hours for skinless pieces and at least eight hours for skin-on pieces (12 hours or more is better).
To be safe from bacteria, always marinate meats in the refrigerator, not at room temperature.
Beef, pork and lamb need a minimum of 8 hours in a marinade and 24 hours is ideal. So plan ahead.
Basic marinade
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 cup
A simple vinaigrette–the French oil-and-vinegar dressing–was probably the original marinade, and it remains a good basic. Wine vinegar, red or white, depending on what you are cooking, is ideal, but you can use rice-wine vinegar, sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar. Olive oil is essential, but the flavor can be increased by using a blend of olive oil and walnut or hazelnut oil.
1/4 cup sherry, balsamic vinegar or rice-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon each: coarse salt, pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Whisk vinegar, mustard and thyme in small bowl. Whisk in oil; season with salt and pepper. Add garlic. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 week.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
94 calories, 95% of calories from fat, 10 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 0.2 g protein, 60 mg sodium, 0 g fiber
Grilled salmon with orange and red pepper marinade
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 1-2 hours
Cooking time: 6-10 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
In “CookSmart,” author Pam Anderson came up with this marinade for salmon as an easy variation to a more labor-intensive recipe that called for boiling down a quart of orange juice. She simply starts with frozen orange juice concentrate. The marinade has only two ingredients and makes a sweet, hot glaze to finish the preparation.
6 center-cut fillets of salmon, 1-inch thick
1 container (6 ounces)
frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Lime wedges
1. Place the salmon fillets in a plastic bag. Mix the thawed orange juice concentrate and red pepper flakes; pour over the salmon. Marinate 1 hour at room temperature, or 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Prepare a grill or broiler. Remove the salmon from the bag, shaking off excess marinade. Sprinkle with salt. Grill, with the flesh side toward the heat, 6-7 minutes for medium-rare to 10 minutes for fully cooked.
3. Meanwhile, pour the marinade into a non-aluminum saucepan; cook over medium heat until it forms a thick glaze, about 5 minutes. Spoon a little of the glaze on top of each fillet before serving. Serve with lime wedges.
Nutrition information per serving:
287 calories, 33% of calories from fat, 10 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 90 mg cholesterol, 14 g carbohydrates, 33 g protein, 266 mg sodium, 0.4 g fiber
Flank steaks with California marinade
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 8-24 hours
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Resting time: 3 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Some marinade recipes require a better stocked pantry that includes the likes of balsamic vinegar or hot pepper oil. This recipe requires having a fresh orange on hand. But it is absolutely the best for marinating lean beef such as flank steak. Do one steak for tomorrow and a second to tuck in the freezer. Later you can pull it from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw; it will marinate as it thaws. Or use half the batch of marinade in a day or two on chicken.
1/4 cup each: coarse grain mustard, Dijon mustard, fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon each: balsamic vinegar, olive oil
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Chinese hot chili oil, see note
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 flank steaks, about 1 1/2 pounds each
1. Combine mustards, orange juice, vinegar, oil, orange zest, chili oil and pepper in a bowl. Pour over flank steak or chicken in a sealable plastic bag. Refrigerate 8-24 hours.
2. Prepare grill or broiler. Remove steaks from bag; discard marinade. Grill steaks 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Let rest 3 minutes. Slice on the diagonal.
Note: Hot chili oil is available at supermarkets in the Chinese specialties section.
Nutrition information per serving:
257 calories, 40% of calories from fat, 11 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 67 mg cholesterol, 2 g carbohydrates, 35 g protein, 218 mg sodium, 0.5 g fiber
