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It’s barbecue time again - Marinade, sauces and butter

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It’s barbecue time again – Marinades, sauces and butters

Transform the most ordinary meal into something different and delicious with a marinade. They not only add flavour to the dish, but also help to tenderise your meat. Because food is cooked quickly on the barbecue, marinating it beforehand gives it a head start.

Acidic-based marinade containing vinegar, citrus juice or wine break down and tenderise meat fibres and are particularly good for tougher meats. Oil-based marinade will moisturise the meat and are suitable for chicken and pork, which have a tendency to dry out when cooked. Try a yoghurt based marinade for chicken or lamb. The marinade will form a delicious crust over the meat when it is cooked.

A a dry marinade is usually a combination of salt and ground spices or dried herbs. Pastes are made by adding a little oil to the dry mixture to allow it to adhere more easily to the meat.

lf you barbecue regularly, it’s a good idea to have a couple of your favourite marinade made up and stored in the refrigerator. Remember also, to use any leftover marinade to baste the food occasionally while you are cooking; but don’t use a plastic or nylon bristled brush as it may melt onto the food. Any marinade that contains sugar or honey (or hidden sugar like tomato sauce) should only be brushed over almost at the end of the cooking, or the sugar will caramelise and become very dark and bitter.

Ideally, large cuts of meat and whole chickens should be marinated for some hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally to allow for as much penetration of flavour as possible. Cubed meats and smaller portions require less marinating time. Don`t marinate seafood for longer than one hour, particularly when using an acidic ingredient in the marinade.

Fresh relishes or a delicious sauce can really dress up simple meat or seafood dishes. Some of those featured here also make good dipping sauces for finger food like barbecued king prawns or satays. lf you have no time to prepare a sauce you could always make a selection of flavoured butters and store them in the freezer. Use them to liven up barbecued vegetables or a steak, or use them to flavour bread rolls or jacket potatoes. They are all simple to prepare and make a real difference to the look and flavour of your meal.

Lemon and wine marinade

Use to marinate lamb or chicken.

2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon thyme

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Teriyaki marinade

Use to marinade lamb or beef.

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1/4 cup chicken or beef stock
2-3 tablespoons sweet sherry
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Spiced yoghurt marinade

Use to marinade lamb or beef.

1 cup plain yoghurt
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch cardamom

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Apricot and onion marinade

Use to marinade pork or chicken.

1/3 cup apricot nectar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
1-2 tablespoons French onion soup mix
2-3 spring onions, finely sliced
1/4 cup red or white wine (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Mustard and herb marinade

Use to marinade beef or lamb

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
2-3 teaspoons Dijon, German or wholegrain mustard
1-2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Horseradish Cream sauce

Serve this sauce with fish or beef.

125 g cream cheese
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1-2 teaspoons minced horseradish or horseradish cream
1 tablespoon chopped chives,
lemon thyme or parsley

1 Using electric beaters, beat the cream cheese until soft and creamy.
2 Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until well combined.

Tartare sauce

Serve this sauce with seafood.

1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1-2 tablespoons halved capers
3 teaspoons finely chopped gherkins
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Chilli Barbecue Sauce

Serve this sauce with lamb or beef.

20 g butter
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1/3 cup bottled barbecue sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 Heat the butter in a small pan.Add the cumin, coriander and paprika and cook for 30 seconds.
2 Stir in the sweet chilli sauce, barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce and mix well.

Creamy Mustard Sauce

Serve this sauce with beef or chicken.

2 tablespoons whole egg mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
2-3 tablespoons Dijon or wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon of your favourite chopped fresh herbs (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. If the sauce is too thick, add a little cream to achieve the required consistency.

Coriander mayonnaise

Serve this sauce with chicken, seafood or veal

3 egg yolks
3/4 cup light olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)

1 Place the egg yolks in a food processor bowl or blender. With the motor constantly running, add the olive oil in a thin stream and process until thick and creamy.
2 Add the lemon juice and coriander and process until combined. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and the garlic, if using.

Tomato Sauce

Serve this sauce warm or cold with burgers, sausages, steak or fish.

1 tablespoon olive oil
20 g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 teaspoons Italian mixed dried herbs
2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1/2 cup tomato purée
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

1 Heat the olive oil and butter in a small pan and add the onion, garlic and herbs. Cook for 2-3
minutes or until the onion is soft.
2 Stir in the tomatoes, tomato purée and vinegar and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the
heat.
3 Place the mixture in a food processor and process until smooth, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Garlic Herb Hollandaise

Serve this sauce with seafood, chicken or beef.

2 egg yolks
160 g melted butter
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste

1 Place the egg yolks in a food processor bowl or blender. With the motor constantly running, add the melted butter in a thin stream. Process until thick and creamy.
2 Add the lemon juice or vinegar, chives, basil, oregano and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Process for 10 seconds to combine.

Smoky Cajun Barbecue Sauce

Use this as a dipping sauce or accompaniment to beef, pork or chicken.

1 medium onion, grated
1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
5 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon liquid hickory smoke (optional)

1 Place all the ingredients except the liquid smoke in an enamel lined or flameproof glass pan.
2 Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, allow to cool and add the liquid smoke, if using.
3 Stir well and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Tomato and Coriander Relish

Serve this relish with satays, kebabs, vegetable dishes, breads and seafood.

3 firm ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 cups coriander leaves, chopped
juice of half a lime
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
1 medium onion, finely chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Note: This makes an appealing salad combination as well. Slice tomatoes and onions on a platter, sprinkle with the salt, chilli powder and coriander leaves. Combine lime juice with a little olive oil and drizzle over the salad to serve.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Use as a dipping sauce or accompaniment to seafood or chicken.

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon water

1 Place the water, pineapple, vinegar, brown sugar and tomato sauce in a small pan.
2 Mix the cornflour and water to a smooth paste. Add to the pan, stirring constantly over a medium
heat until the sauce boils and thickens. Cool slightly before serving.

Rosemary Butter

125 g butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
squeeze lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Combine the butter with the other ingredients and beat until smooth. Place in a butter container or, using plastic wrap, form into a log shape and refrigerate. Slice into 1 cm thick rounds to serve.

Herb Butter

Use with steaks, chicken, seafood, vegetables and hot breads or rolls.

125 g butter, softened
1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
or 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Combine the butter with the other ingredients and beat until smooth. Place in a butter container or, using plastic wrap, form into a log shape and refrigerate. Slice into 1 cm thick rounds to serve.

Lime and Chilli Butter

Serve with chicken or seafood

125 g butter
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 teaspoon chopped chilli
2 teaspoons chopped fresh coriander

Beat the butter until it is light and creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat again until
smooth. Place in a butter container or, using plastic wrap, form into a log shape and refrigerate. Slice into 1 cm thick rounds and serve

Savoury Anchovy Butter

Serve with beef.

200 g butter
4 anchovy fillets, drained
2 spring onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1 Place all the ingredients in a food processor bowl and process for 20-30 seconds or until the mixture forms a smooth paste.
2 Transfer the mixture to small serving pots and refrigerate.


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The Art of the Marinade

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The Art of the Marinade

It’s a sad fact that these days it has become almost essential to marinade most cuts of meat, unless you intend to casserole them.

I’ll go into why that is the case a bit later on, but for the time being let’s just examine why we use marinades at all.

Principally there are two reasons. One is to add flavour, and the other is to tenderize. Usually, we are trying to do both.

It’s worth bearing in mind that marinating is a cooking process, even though heat is rarely applied. The importance of recognizing this is that, like any other cooking process, you can overdo it.

It’s not just a case of putting the meat or fish in a sauce and leaving it there until you are ready to use it. Many of the fruit juices we use in marinades, such as lemon and pineapple, contain enzymes that break down proteins. In essence, what they do is digest them.

Leaving meat in them for too long would result in an unpalatable mush. If you want to try this for yourself, leave a piece of pork in fresh pineapple juice overnight and then see what happens when you cook it.

You probably won’t like the result.

Why is meat tough?

It’s a tragedy that although we are killing our animals at an earlier age in order to satisfy the demand for fresh meat, the end product still tends to be tough.
There are good reasons for this and it is useful to have a working knowledge of them if only to avoid potential disasters.

It is not, as some cooks would have you believe, simply a matter of finding a butcher who will take the trouble to discuss your needs with you, if indeed such a person still exists outside of the more fanciful cookbooks.

Our meat is tough because it started out that way. And here’s why (if you are squeamish, skip this section):

When an animal is killed its muscles (protein) go into spasm caused by the injection of the well-known fight or flight chemicals released by the brain.

Under normal conditions, that is to say in the natural world, this would be followed by rigor mortis setting in, followed by a gradual relaxing of the proteins back to their normal state.

However because of the speed at which the slaughter and preparation of carcasses is carried out, this vital, natural step is rarely if ever completed. The animal is killed, cooled and frozen in one continuous process.

The result is toughened proteins.

A butcher who hangs his meat can, to some extent, reverse this effect. If you ever find one, hang on to him for dear life. You have found a rapidly disappearing treasure.

The alternative is to use marinades.

Basic principles

Marinades can be wet or dry and you can add just about any flavor you desire to them.

When a marinade is liquid, the base is usually acidic. As I said earlier, this may be fruit juice, but wine, vinegar or even beer may also be used. As a matter of fact I know of one cook who uses Coca-Cola.

If it marinades meat, just think what it’s doing to your insides.

Steeping in the marinade may take anything from a few minutes to several hours, and even overnight in the refrigerator.

The more delicate the proteins, though, the more chance there is of overdoing things. Fish, for example, should rarely be in a marinade for more than 30 minutes, particularly if lemon juice is involved (which it usually is).

Red meat, on the other hand, can sit in the refrigerator all night without coming to any harm. So can pork and chicken, providing there are no enzymes present of the type described above.

In other words, if you are using fresh fruit juice, keep the marinating time to a minimum. That is to say, no more than an hour at the outside.

Come to think of it, if either of those meats needs longer than that to tenderize it, it’s definitely time to change your supplier.

Caution

Whatever marinade you use, throw away any uncooked portion once you have finished with it. Do not taste it after the meat has been put in it, and do not use it for anything else.

If you want to heat it through to use it as an accompanying sauce, by all means do so, but ensure that it comes to the boil and that it cooks for at least 10 minutes.

Alternatively, heat it in the microwave, which will achieve the same thing in a shorter space of time.

Marinades are the perfect medium for food poisoning bugs to take their vacations in, and when bugs are on holiday they are happy. And when they are happy, they multiply. A bit like us, really.

If in doubt, throw it away.
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Marinades, Sauces And Dressings: Balsamic Vinegar Compliments More Than You May Realize

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Marinades, Sauces And Dressings: Balsamic Vinegar Compliments More Than You May Realize

A balsamic vinaigrette dressing can turn a nominal green salad into a refreshing mixed fresh Spring salad with a zest of Italian flair. Using aged balsamic adds a bit of gourmet into anyone’s kitchen. Send a bottle to a friend for a gift and you may turn their culinary world upside down.

“The keynote to happiness within the four walls that make any home is plain, wholesome, well cooked food, attractively served.” — Louis P. De Gouy

Balsamic Vinegar has an almost other worldly flavour that enhances nearly any food it touches. You can see a visible change on the face of someone who is trying Italian balsamico for the first time. Their face is transformed by awe and delight.

Cost and Quality

The cost of balsamic vinegar is tempered by the fact that a little bit goes a long way. Typical recipes use little more than ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, so the cost of the bottle is generally offset by the long-term usefulness and good taste of the product.

Cooking Tips

You may be interested in knowing that balsamic vinegar is used for much more than an ingredient in salad dressings. For instance, many will no longer eat fresh strawberries if they can’t apply a bit of aged balsamic vinegar.

If you are a fan of fresh vegetables you should know that balsamic vinegar can make a perfect marinade for grilled veggies such as bell peppers and eggplant. That same marinade can be used when grilling fish and chicken. Red meats can also gain a complimentary taste using an Italian balsamic like Villa Bellentani.

When cooking with balsamic vinegar it is important to note that it may be best to apply the vinegar after the dish is fully cooked. Adding balsamic vinegar to your favourite dishes will, in fact, enhance the flavour, but heat mellows the taste and may be best applied after the cooking is finished.

When used in a balsamic vinaigrette, the blending of this famed Italian vinegar and extra virgin olive oil results in an incredible accent to fresh seafood as well as asparagus and artichokes.

There are even exclusive ice creams that use balsamic vinegar to create a one of kind desert. Drizzling a small amount of thick balsamic vinegar over vanilla ice cream is a popular dessert in Europe.

Supply is Shorter than Demand

It may surprise you to know that only 3,000 gallons of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale balsamic vinegar is released to the public each year. This has brought about a new group of modestly priced balsamic vinegar that varies widely in price. The reduction in price may generally be attributed to limited aging. It is this type of balsamic vinegar that may be best suited to marinades, sauces and dressings.

Beware of the very inexpensive varieties due to the fact that they are often developed using caramelized brown sugar (to add colour and sweetness) and common vinegar. They may also include preservatives that many are allergic to.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Made Easy

Should you desire a homemade bottle of balsamic vinaigrette the instructions are as follows:

One part balsamic vinegar
Four to five parts olive oil
Season and pepper to taste
A teaspoon of mustard (Dijon is often preferred) per half cup of dressing

Additional Ingredients

The following should be used only when desired.
Chives and sage – or other favourite complimentary herbs
Finely chopped shallot of ginger root

(Please note that many find garlic to be incompatible with balsamic vinegar.)
author:James Zeller