Today I am sharing a couple marinades I made up on the spot for a dinner I put together for a few friends. I knew I would be making the chimichurri sauce since this is a heavy garlic sauce and we are all garlic lovers! So I wanted to make a marinade that would help enhance the flavors without covering up the deliciousness of the quality steak and chicken. My first thought was they would be very basic and very similar. I knew I wanted a liquid component, a tenderizing component, a little acid and some similar flavors found in the sauce. Its amazing how simple marinades are to make and it really help the texture and flavor of the meat and chicken. Of course you don't have to marinate the meat at all, the sauce is very flavorful but I wanted to be fancy!
 |
| Steak w/ Chimichurri accompanied with some roasted brussels sprouts and asparagus and a organic basmati rice with sauteed veggies. |
Steak Marinade:
Ingredients:
2 lbs. Flank Steak
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1/4 cup white vinegar- tenderizer component
1/4 cup olive oil- any kind, I used a herb infused one just cause I had it
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon onion powder
1tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
Preparation:
Cut your flank steak into manageable portions if you need to. Place in a large freezer bag, our in all marinade ingredients. Seal bag and shake it up to coat the steak. Put in the refrigerator for an hour to overnight, the longer the better. To cook, heat a sauce pan on high heat, melt a tablespoon of fat (duck, bacon, ghee, butter) take steak out of marinade and brown both sides, 1 min each side, discard marinade. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place browned meat on cookie sheet and bake for 15 mins.
Chicken Marinade: Looks a lot like the steak marinade
Ingredients:
2 lbs. chicken breasts and thighs
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar- tenderizer component
1/4 cup Olive Oil- any kind, I used herb infused
Juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Place chicken and all marinade ingredients into a larger freezer bag. Seal bag and shake up to coat. Put in refrigerator for an hour to overnight, the longer the better. To cook, heat a sauce pan on high heat, melt a tablespoon of fat (duck, bacon, ghee, butter) take chicken out of marinade and brown both sides,
about 2 mins each side, discard marinade. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place browned chicken on cookie sheet and bake for 15 mins.
Chimichurri Sauce- super awesome easy sauce!
Ingredients:
5 garlic cloves
1 bunch parsley (about 1 cup)
1 bunch cilantro (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste.
**If you want your sauce thicker use less olive oil and vinegar, just be sure to use the same amount of each, try 1/2 cup of each and add a little more till you get the desired consistency.**
In a food processor or blender, combine garlic and oregano and a little olive oil and pulse on low, just to initially chop up garlic.
Add the remainder ingredients and pulse on low until smooth sauce it formed. Spoon on top of chicken and/or steak and ENJOY!!!
I hope you all are enjoying these recipes, if you are feel free to leave me some feedback!!
And don't forget to subscribe to the blog, then you can be super lazy and just get these little gems sent straight to your inbox!
