Marinades And Barbecue Sauces

Marinades and barbecue sauces are the ideal way to bring flavour to many meats including beef, lamb, pork and chicken. They are especially important if the meat is to be barbecued where it will readily become overcooked and lose some of that sweet, juicy flavour as it cooks. Marinading or marinating as it’s sometimes termed is also important for fully tenderising particularly tough cuts of meat or simply to restore if not add to the flavour. 

Grilling on a barbecue could not be better. There isn’t really a better way to cook meat or chicken. A barbecue sauce is often used to coat or baste the meat during grilling but it does double up as a marinade too. Most marinades work as basting sauces in their own right because they keep the meat moist without drying. That’s why we have included them here.

The easiest and simplest way to marinade meat is to cut the meat up into manageable portions, wet with some water, pat with a kitchen paper towel or drain off of that’s not possible and then seal with the marinade in a zip-lock bag. It must be refrigerated to minimise spoilage and prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria. To optimise coating, just turn the bag over a few times. Most of the flavour is picked up after a few hours but it can be left overnight. Don’t exceed 24 hours!

One of the best set of recipes for marinades and barbecue sauces comes from Sheila Murray’s book ‘What’s Sauce for the Goose Cookbook‘ which covers  of different sauce combinations for pastas and other dishes as well.

Lime and Ginger Marinade

Ingredients:

• ½ cup vegetable oil (sunflower or corn oil)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• one walnut or thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 tablespoons granulated all caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil

Preparation:

1. Put all the ingredients into a blender bottle and blend until the ginger his been finely chop. 
2. Coat and marinate boneless chicken and turkey breasts just before grilling.

A Lamb Marinade for Shish-Kebab

An easy marinade just for cubed lamb prior to grilling in the oven or the barbecue. It takes away some of that dryness and lends a slightly Mexican note to what is a classic Middle Eastern dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup burgundy wine
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• juice of two fresh limes
• one large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon of dried thyme, fresh would be ideal but it needs to be well chopped.
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Mix the marinade well.  Add some coarsely chopped lime peel (rind) if you want a stronger more citrusy flavour.
2. Marinate the lamb cubes, cover and refrigerate them for between 24 to 48 hours.  Skewer the meat and then grill.

Marinade for Barbecued Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 cup catsup/tomato ketchup
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup olive or salad oil (soybean, sunflower oil)
• 2 tablespoons sweet sherry
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Mix the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer for 10 minutes.  Cool and refrigerate for a few hours to blend flavours.  Use to marinate chicken pieces.

Mustard Marinade

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salad must-attend Dijon or French
• ¾ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup granulated or caster  sugar
• 2 tablespoons salad oil
• one tsp Worcestershire sauce
• one tsp Tabasco sauce
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat to dissolve the sugar.  Cool it.
2. Use to marinate a chuck roast or relatively tender steaks for about 24 hours before barbecuing or broiling.

Spicy barbecue sauce

Ingredients:

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup light molasses although dark molasses can be used
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce mostly Tabasco
• 2 tablespoons salad oil

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients well in a glass or plastic bowl but not a metal one. 
2. Cover and refrigerate a few hours or more to blend flavours. 
3. Use to marinate beef, pork or chicken before barbecuing.