Grilling season is off and running. How do you grill the same summer foods —chicken, steak, burgers, veggies, seafood — and give them new flavors and a depth of taste? The answer is not fancy techniques or expensive cuts of meat. It’s far simpler: Barbecue sauce and marinades can do the job.
Marinades — a simple combination of herbs, garlic, wine or condiments — is a simple way to infuse food with lots of flavor. But it also offers the benefit of tenderizing meat, poultry, vegetables and fish. Marinades can be especially useful with tougher cuts of meat like flank steak, skirt steak and flatiron. Marinades can also often do double duty by becoming a sauce for the finished grilled food. Here, the marinade acts as a tenderizer and then half of it is kept separately to be served as a sauce. The marinade also acts as a baster (keeps food moist) while it’s grilling.
There’s also a bonus recipe here for a fabulous (I’m fantasizing about bottling this stuff!) barbecue sauce that utilizes spring rhubarb. This sour vegetable (no, it’s technically not a fruit) adds incredible flavor and texture to a ginger-chile-ketchup-maple syrup barbecue sauce. This is a full-flavored spicy-sweet-sour sauce that works well with any type of meat, poultry and many types of grilled vegetables. It’s good enough to eat by the spoonful.
Here’s to a summer of grilling and getting deeper flavors and upping your summer grilling game.
Lime-cumin-chile-red wine marinade/sauce
A simple combination of red wine, lime, garlic, parsley, coriander, cumin and chile flakes, this marinade works best with assertive flavors like beef, pork, lamb and game. It could also easily be used with chicken. There’s enough marinade here for 2 pounds of meat/poultry, etc.
The beef (or lamb or chicken, or whatever cut of meat you choose) is marinated for one to 24 hours and then drained from the marinade.
The marinade is then simmered and can be brushed onto the meat as it grills to keep it extra moist and provide even more flavor.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley with stems
- ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro with stems (if you hate cilantro make it ½ cup parsley)
- Juice 1 large lime, about 2 tablespoons
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 cup red wine, preferably not too fruity
Instructions
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients together. Place the meat in the bowl or a ziplock bag and cover or seal. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
- Drain the meat from the marinade and place the marinade into a small saucepan. While the grill heats up, bring marinade to a boil over high heat, then reduce it to medium-low and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Grill the meat or poultry and brush liberally with the simmered marinade several times on both sides as it grills. Makes about 1 cup.
- Cooking tip: I used this flavorful marinade on a 2-pound skirt steak. (Would work equally well with flank or flatiron steak or pork.) I marinated it for 24 hours, removed the meat from the marinade and seasoned the meat with salt and pepper. I grilled it over medium heat (around 375 degrees) for 12 minutes (until the internal temperature was 125 degrees). I used some of the marinade as a basting sauce as the meat cooked and discarded the rest. I let the meat rest for about five minutes before cutting it into slices against the grain.
Quick ginger-soy-rice wine marinade
This is a quick, light marinade that’s ideal for a fish filet or steak (I used it with salmon filet), chicken, eggplant or summer squash. You can let the fish or vegetables sit in about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the marinade for around 15 minutes and then use it to baste the fish/vegetable as it grills.
Ingrdeients
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari
- Freshly ground black or white pepper
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients. Place the fish or vegetables in a shallow pan and spoon about 2 tablespoons of the marinade on top; let marinate for around 15 minutes. Grill. Serve the remaining marinade as a sauce on the side. Makes enough for 1-pound fish/chicken/vegetable.
- Cooking tip: I used a 1-pound salmon filet, marinated in 2 tablespoons of the marinade in a skillet or shallow pan for 15 minutes before grilling. I preheated the grill to around 400 degrees. I placed 2 whole scallions on the grill and placed the salmon on top and grilled it for 12 minutes, basting with the marinade from the pan. I served it with lemon and the remaining marinade on the side.
Fresh herb-yogurt sauce/marinade
Sometimes a marinade acts in two ways: as a tenderizer and flavoring agent for meat or fish and then also as a sauce. This green herb-infused yogurt sauce does both. Fresh dill, chives and parsley are mixed with plain yogurt, whirled with garlic and olive oil and the work is done. Marinate chicken, shrimp, fish, lamb in the marinade and keep half of it to the side to serve as a sauce. Having the same ingredients enhance and tenderize the food and then served with it as a finished sauce reinforces all the flavors.
This recipe makes enough marinade and sauce for 1 ½ pounds meat, fish or poultry.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups plain whole fat yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ cup fresh dill leaves and stems
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley leaves and stems
- 1/3 cup finely chopped chives
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In the container of a blender or food processor, blend all the ingredients. Place the meat-fish/poultry in a bowl and cover with half the yogurt sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Marinade for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. Grill food and serve with the remaining cold sauce. Makes about 1 ½ cups.
- Cooking Tip: I used this sauce with 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts, bone in. I marinated the chicken in a large bowl coated in half the sauce for 12 hours. I grilled the chicken for about 8 minutes per side, basting with the marinade from the bowl. I served the finished chicken with the remaining sauce on the side.
Rhubarb-ginger BBQ sauce
Fresh spring rhubarb and ginger add a distinctive sour-sweet tang to this BBQ sauce. It will keep, covered and refrigerated, for about a week. You can up the spice level as you see fit. Ideal for slathering on BBQ ribs, chicken, wild game, or beef.
Makes about 2 cups.
- 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
- About 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons chile paste, chile crisp, or hot pepper sauce
- 8 ounces rhubarb, about 3 fat stalks, ends trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup balsamic or rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the chile paste and stir, cooking for another 1 minute. Stir in the rhubarb pieces and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire, ketchup and maple syrup and cook, stirring, for about 15 minutes. The sauce should be thickened and the rhubarb should “disappear” into the sauce, with just some chunks remaining. Taste for seasoning, add more chile paste, vinegar, or soy sauce if needed for balance. Remove from the heat and let cool; place in a covered jar and refrigerate.
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