Truly Magic Sauce

I was scoping out Grilling blogs this week and stumbled upon a KILLER recipe for a chimichurri type marinade. The sauce is so crazy simple I'm surprised I didn't think of something like this myself, but then again, I'm not awesome at making up new recipes. :)

MAGIC SAUCE!
2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
1 well-crumbled bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon + fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice


The author of this blog suggested doubling the batch because you can use it on EVERYTHING!!!!!  I marinated a flank steak over night in this sauce and it was UNREAL!!!!  It was tender, perfectly flavored and I found myself wishing I had reserved some Magic Sauce to use a a steak sauce while eating it!  I did drizzle some on my eggs before I used it as a marinade and it WAS magical. :)

MOJO!

My neighbor lent me her Estefan Kitchen Cuban cookbook by Emilio and Gloria Estefan.  It is always so cool to me to learn the customary differences between cuisines.  I was looking for a pork marinade for pork tacos.  I found a steal in the Mojo Criollo recipe.  They use this recipe in many of their dishes like the pork for Cuban Sandwiches.  I definitely plan on trying that out too!

Mojo Criollo
10 to 12 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup naranja agria (sour orange) - you can substitute 2 parts lemon juice with 1 part orange juice.
1/4 cup olive oil

In batches of 6 cloves, peel and mash the garlic using a mortar and pestle (or crush in a garlic press).

In a small bowl, combine the mashed garlic with the salt, pepper and oregano.

Stir in the naranja agria juice and olive oil.

I marinated pork in this for about four hours, pan fried it, and chopped it up for pork tacos with white onion and cilantro salsa.  AWESOME!!!!!!

Marinades ROCK!

These days I am all about simple and pure yummy...all at the same time.  How do I do it?  Marinades!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I like getting my meats at Costco but get tired of same old, same old.  Since my flank steak marinade was so successful I decided to try it out with salmon.  OH YEAH, BABY!  I scored this recipe off Allrecipes.com.  If you haven't checked this site you...DO IT!  I always search recipes by highest rating and I haven't been let down yet. 

Grilled Gingered Salmon
1 cup soy sauce

1 cup muscovado (dark brown) sugar
1 (5 inch) piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 (3 pound) whole salmon fillet with skin
1 untreated cedar plank

The recipe calls for three pounds of Salmon, but because it was just Alex and I tonight, only used a pound so I reduced the recipe into a third.  The original recipe called to grill the salmon on the cedar plank, but we weren't up for grilling tonight so we cooked the salmon in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.   
 
The marinade looked so fabulous I just couldn't dump it down the drain.  So I pulled a Rachael Ray and made a sauce out of it by cooking it down on the stove top on medium for 10 minutes.  We served it up over rice and drizzled the sauce over the top.  FREAKING FABULOUS!!!!  The salmon by itself with great, but the sauce added some SERIOUS flavor...especially to the rice.
 
I have to apologize up front for this picture...it was taken with my cell phone.  It was the only way you were going to see this dish before I devoured it. :)
 

Alton Brown sure is quirky...but makes a GREAT flank steak!

For those of you that shop at Costco, you can appreciate getting food items in BULK.  I like being able to shop once and have food stashed in the freezer for when I don't feel like getting out and doing the grocery shopping.  The draw back to this method of shopping is you end up eating the same food over and over and over.  It can get a bit tedious.  I like to get the flank steak Costco offers, but I found I kept making fajita's with it.  That doesn't do me any good, especially if I am trying to get my blog readers new yummy recipes. :)  I decided for a change of pace and stumbled upon a recipe by Alton Brown.

I LOVE Food Network.  In fact, before child, I used to spend my Saturdays and Sundays camped out watching my favorite cooking shows.  Alton Brown was never on my line up of  shows I drooled over.  I appreciate the fact he is a food GEEK, but I just can't get into that guy.  His food, on the other hand, I can appreciate!

Freaking Yummy Flank Steak! (this isn't what Alton Brown calls it, but he also calls for you to use your blow dryer to blow on the charcoal...GEEK!)

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar or Mexican brown sugar
2 pounds inside skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces

Heat charcoal, preferably natural chunk, until grey ash appears. In a blender, put in oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, lime juice, red pepper, cumin, and sugar and puree. In a large heavy duty, zip top bag, put pieces of skirt steak and pour in marinade. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Allow steak to marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator.

Remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Using a blow dryer, blow charcoal clean of ash. Once clean of ash lay steaks directly onto hot coals for 1 minute per side. When finished cooking, place meat in double thickness of aluminum foil, wrap, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Remove meat from foil, reserving foil and juices. Slice thinly across the grain of the meat. Return to foil pouch and toss with juice. Serve with grilled peppers and onions, if desired.


I've included the recipe in it's entirity from Food Network's web site...Alex and I didn't go to the lengths of using the blow dryer on the coals...just in case you're wondering.  I marinated the steak as the recipe called for and then Alex just threw it on the grill until medium well. 

THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE FOR FLANK STEAK I HAVE COME ACROSS!!!!  You HAVE to try this.  If I was going to open a restaurant, I would use this recipe.  It was so good, you only get pictures of what we didn't eat the first night.  We used the leftovers over greens and had a KILLER steak salad.