THE ONLY MARINADE YOU'LL EVER NEED (page 54)
If I could use only one marinade for the rest of my life, it would be this one. Redolent with garlic, piquant with fresh lemon juice, and fragrant with extra virgin olive oil, it instantly transports you to the Mediterranean. I can't think of a single food that doesn't taste better bathed in it. You can use it as both a marinade and a basting sauce. If marinating poultry, meat, or seafood, simply set a portion aside for basting.
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea), or to taste
4 strips of lemon zest
3 gloves garlic, crushed with the side of a cleaver or minced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil, cilantro, dill, oregano
or a mix of all four
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Combine the lemon juice, hot pepper flakes, cracked pepper, and salt in a nonreactive (glass, ceramic, or stainless steel) bowl and whisk until the salt crystals are dissolved. Add the lemon zest, garlic, parsley, and basil. Stir or whisk in the olive oil. The virtue of this marinade is its freshness; use it within 1 to 2 hours of making. Stir again before using. Makes 1 cup.
CHIMICHURRI
(Argentine Parsley Garlic Sauce, pages 172-3)
Argentina is home of a pesto-like pugilist called chimichurri. The sauce owes its freshness and bright green color to flat leaf parsley and its pungency to tongue-pounding doses of garlic. (Talk about ingenuity: Parsley is nature's mouthwash, so it helps counteract the breath-wilting fumes of the garlic.) Those are the basic ingredients, but there are as many variations as there are Argentinian grill jockeys. Some even enliven their chimichurri with grated carrot or red bell pepper; others kick up the heat with hot pepper flakes or fresh chilies.
1 large bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, washed, stemmed, and dried
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons minced onion
5 tablespoons distilled white vinegar or more to taste
5 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Finely chop the parsley and garlic in a food processor. Add the onion, vinegar, water, salt, oregano, pepper flakes, and black pepper and process in brief bursts until the salt crystals are dissolved. Add the oil in a thin stream. Do not over process; the chimichurri should be fairly coarse. Correct the seasoning, adding salt or vinegar to taste. Makes 2 cups
COCA-COLA BARBECUE SAUCE (page 162)
Dare to be different. That's Jim Budros's motto, and his culinary open-mindedness has won the financial advisor turned pit bull boss a championship at the Kansas City Royal International Barbecue Contest. What's different about his barbecue sauce is its main flavoring, an ingredient most people are more likely to drink than cook with: Coke! This isn't quite as strange as it sounds, because Coke is sweet, tart, and spicy - the flavor profile of most great barbecue sauces. Incidentally, pot roast braised in Coca-Cola is a favorite in Venezuela.
1 cup Coca Cola
1/2 cup A-1 Steak Sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a heavy, non-reactive saucepan and gradually bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat slightly to obtain a gentle simmer. Simmer the sauce until reduced by a quarter, 6 to 8 minutes. Use right away or transfer to a large jar, cover, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. The sauce will keep for several months. Makes 2 cups
