The floor at my house is being redone, so Elsa and I evacuated to expedite the process. This way, they can close all the windows, turn up the heat, and Elsa and I won't ever have to inhale that nasty smell.
But, we're not here for my tale of woe (well, Elsa's tale of woe, I usually just run away from it by going to lab). So, let's move along, shall we?
In the next 8 weeks I will have to be mostly on a severe diet. This is to manage my ever-bulging waistline. It really isn't that bad, it just sounds bad (the diet, I mean, not my waistline. My waistline is catastrophic at best). So to commemorate that... let's spice up some lean protein!
These recipes are simple marinades that you can use to marinate lean proteins like beef, fish, and chicken. I know I said I didn't eat beef, but just because I didn't eat beef, doesn't meant I can't make them...
The origins of these recipe are various. The dill marinade for the fish was inspired by Epicurious as I was looking for something to accompany hollandaise sauce, whereas the teriyaki was my mother's. The marinade for beef steak was something I invented since I had extra juice boxes laying around. The galbi was a recipe a friend of mine taught me, yet slightly modified. The spicy bulgogi recipe was an approximation of the spicy bulgogi I like from a Korean restaurant. Lastly, the lamb chop recipe was something I invented because I fell in love with that mint sauce.
Anyways, the key to making this taste good is to marinate ahead of time. I always say a full overnight marinating is good, longer is better. Marinating to me is really an easy thing to do. I promise it won't take longer than 15 minutes of preparation.
Marinades for fishies
Dill salmon
Ingredients:
2-3 sprigs of dill
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs pepper
Juice of 3 - 4 lime
About 1/4 cup water
Directions:
1. Mix together salt, pepper, lime juice. Stir until salt is dissolved.
2. Adjust the flavor with water, however be aware that since this is a marinade, it will be saltier than normal and more sour.
3. Marinate salmon steaks (about 4 steaks) in the liquid in ziplock bags, but in between the salmon steaks, place bruised 1/2 - 1 dill sprig (to bruise dill, just rub gently between your palm until it's slightly wet).
4. After marinating overnight, grill salmon for 6 minutes per side, and serve with hollandaise sauce that's infused with dill.
Teriyaki salmon
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
2 tbs sugar
3 - 4 scallion chopped
1 tsp sesame oil
About 1/4 cup water
Directions:
1. Mix together Kikkoman soy sauce (unfortunately, no substitution for this), sugar, and sesame oil. Stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Adjust the flavor with water and marinate salmon steaks (you can use about a side of filleted salmon for this) in the liquid overnight.
Marinades for beef
Beef steak
Ingredients:
2/3 cup pineapple-orange juice (I used Welch's)
3 - 4 tbs Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 - 2 tsp sugar
Directions:
1. Mix pineapple-orange juice and Worchestershire sauce.
2. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar.
3. Marinate forked beef loins (6 steaks) cut to 1 inch thick overnight. Then grill for 3 - 4 minutes per side. If you want to, add blue cheese on top of the beef at the last 20 seconds. Cook covered to melt the cheese.
Note: forked beef is a way to tenderize the beef. If you don't have good marbling on your beef cut, there's a way to make it tender, that is by cutting the beef to 1 inch thick slices and stabbing them with fork, both sides. Stab them for a good 2 - 3 minutes per side. Think about it this way... it's a way to channel your aggression.
Galbi
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3 tbs sugar
1 tbs sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Directions:
1. Mix soy sauce and sugar.
2. Adjust taste with water and then add sesame oil and garlic.
3. Marinate thinly sliced beef or beef short ribs (about 1/2 - 1 lbs) overnight.
Marinade for pork
Spicy bulgogi
Ingredients:
4 tbs gochujang
2 - 3 tbs honey
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp Kikkoman soy sauce
Directions:
1. Mix gochujang and honey evenly, adjust the taste. If you need to add more heat, add fresh peppers (this way it wouldn't interfere with the flavors of gochujang).
2. Stir in crushed garlic and sesame oil.
3. Cut thin strips of pork (approx. 5 mm thin, 1/2 - 1 lbs) and marinate overnight.
Marinade for lamb
Lamb chop
Ingredients:
3 tbs garlic powder (4 cloves of garlic, crushed)
2 tbs of salt
1 tsp pepper
Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together (unless using cloves of garlic).
2. Rub lamb chops (about 3 - 4 lamb chops) with the ingredients, similar to rubbing ribs with dry seasoning.
3. Marinate overnight and grill lamb for 3 - 4 minutes per side. Serve with mint sauce.
Note: just like beef, it's better to fork the meat before marinating.
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