Tag Archives: chicken

Make a great chicken, pork, or grass-fed steak marinade for a mouthwatering meal

May 1, 2018Uncategorizedadvice, balsamic vinegar, best steak marinade, black pepper, brown sugar, Chef Yankel, chicken, cook, cooking secrets, delicious steak, dijon mustard, flank steak, fresh lemon juice, freshly ground, garlic powder, good marinade, good steak, grilled steak, grilling steaks, healthy eating, juicy steak, lemon juice, Marinade, Marinate, marinate steak, Marinating, minced garlic, new york, olive oil, Pork, ribeye steaks, room temperature, rosemary, soy sauce, steak, steak marinade, steak marinade recipe, strip steak, tender steaks, tougher cuts, worcestershire sauceDennis Keohane

Quality chicken, pork, and beef can often be thrown directly on the grill without any seasoning — or with just a pinch of kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper — and taste amazing. But, an excellent homemade steak marinade — for instance — can take your meat to the next level.

Many steaks can be immensely improved with a little kitchen creativity and some minced garlic or soy sauce. This is especially true of skirt steak, flank steak, and similar tougher cuts with lots of connective tissues.

But if you really want to pack flavor into a grass-fed, grass-finished steak or some pasture-raised, heritage-breed pork or free-range chicken, a little knowledge of how marinades work and which flavor combinations are best can make a standard weeknight meal into a savory, memorable culinary experience.

Is it necessary to marinate steak, pork, or chicken?

Why marinate, you ask? Marinating before grilling is an excellent way to add additional flavors and to get more tender meat.

Marinades work well because of the natural attributes of beef, chicken, and pork, according to Head ButcherBox Chef Yankel Polak. “The longer you leave a protein in a marinade the more flavor it should absorb,” he explains, “and, what’s more, marinating will tenderize a tougher cut of meat.”

The problem is that, in reality, most marinades only penetrate about 2 millimeters deep. “And, get this,” Chef Yankel says, “it all happens in the first few seconds.”

So, while many people think that marinating meat for extended periods of time, or even overnight, is the key to having meat with fantastic flavor, that’s not actually the case. “While there is nothing wrong with preparing your ingredients the day before, remember that a good marinade only needs minimal contact with your protein to do everything it’s supposed to do,” according to Chef Yankel.

A good marinade enhances flavors

While there are many options for chicken or steak marinades, you can pull right off the shelf of your grocery store to have a pretty good meal, making your own marinades is healthier and leads to more flavorful pork chops or a nice juicy steak.

If you can, try to keep the marinades as natural as possible. It would be foolish to take a nice cut of grass-fed steak or heritage-breed pork and then douse it with some combination of corn syrup and lab-made additives.

Keep in mind that different cuts and types of meat have different flavor profiles. Some flavors will work best with, say, a flank steak more so than a ribeye, and vice versa.

“Think about the item you are cooking, whether that’s chicken, beef, or pork, and use ingredients in your marinade that will complement the flavor,” Chef Yankel says.

Flavor profiles for each type of meat

According to our chef, the best complementary flavor profiles are citrus for chicken, sweet flavors for pork, and marinades that are rich and savory for beef, especially grilled steaks.

This is why lime and lemon juices go great with other spices in chicken marinades; pineapple, brown sugar, and maple are great to have in pork marinades; and balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, and mushroom flavors work well as steak marinades.

“While they don’t alter the internal structure of the meat,” Chef Yankel adds, “acidic elements in marinades will certainly give you that extra punch of flavor — the ‘wow’ factor that accompanies that first bite.”

Some flavors that can’t be made from scratch — unless you have time to ferment malt vinegar, molasses, anchovies, and tamarind extract for 18 months. So it is okay to mix some natural ingredients like rosemary or fresh lemon juice with a good soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce.

Using a homemade marinade on your grass-fed steak can change a mundane meal into something otherworldly. Experiment and you might discover unexpected flavor combinations that work wonders for your palate.

And, to save you some precious time, now you also know that you don’t even have to marinate for too long to get those flavorful benefits.

Watch Chef Yankel break down his favorite marinades for chicken, pork, and beef here. In the video below check out an easy steak marinade — that has very little prep time —featuring garlic, cilantro, lime zest and olive oil. According to Yankel, that’s all you need for a delicious steak every time.

Also, here is Chef Yankel’s favorite one-hour steak marinade recipe for grilling New York strip steaks:

3 limes, both zest and juice
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 head of minced garlic
1 tablespoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup chives, chopped
4 tablespoons tarragon, chopped
4 tablespoons dill, chopped
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Combine all marinade ingredients in small bowl. Mix well and coat steaks thoroughly.
Allow steaks to marinate in a refrigerator at least one hour, then bring steaks to room temperature before cooking.
Grill the strip steaks over charcoal or an open flame for 4 to 6 minutes per side, or until internal temperature reads 120°F. Rest steak 8 minutes before serving.

You can find more recipes here. Happy eating!

Authentic customer experiences: An autumn farm dinner with ButcherBox

September 29, 2017UncategorizedChef Yankel, chicken, Customers, family farm, Farm, grass fed beef, Matlock Farm, NY strip steakDennis Keohane

On Thursday evening, ButcherBox invited a few of our most loyal and long-standing Boston-area customers to a small farm in Lincoln, Massachusetts, for a special multi-course dinner designed by our in-house chef, Yankel Polak.

With a perfect early-fall sunset as a backdrop, all in attendance were treated to an incredible culinary experience as we paired some of our favorite ButcherBox cuts with beef from Matlock Farms — our host for the night — along with some great wine and New England craft beer and cider.

“We wanted to do an ‘Outstanding in the Field‘-style dinner for our members so we could get some awesome photos, tell our members how much they mean to us, and learn about what they want and need,” said ButcherBox’s co-founder and CEO Mike Salguero.

“It was great to be able to do it at Matlock, a farm that was started in 1635 and has been passed down through 12 generations of farmers,” he added.

The atmosphere was ideal for discussions on what makes ButcherBox so great and how we can improve our customers’ experiences. The glow and heat from the campfires set up near the grazing Belted Galloways — Matlock’s signature breed of cattle from the Galloway district of Scotland — paled in comparison to the warmth felt among the guests and ButcherBox team members.

Some of the suggestions from our customers included requests for more products, such as lamb and fish, and improvements to packaging (something we already have in the works).

“We heard some great comments on the ease of use of our service and the incredible taste of our meat,” said Mike. The food, as expected, was the focus. And, with Chef Yankel at the helm, the entire dining experience was unforgettable.

As Chef Yankel explained, a lot of thought went into every detail. “The food was sort of a conglomeration of who I am, paired with the needs of the event.”

For our chef, that meant choosing the centerpiece proteins first. In the case of this event, that meant selecting two items that would make use of the Matlock farm beef, while the rest would involve his favorite ButcherBox cuts.

“I began by thinking about pairing these meats with appropriate flavors,” Yankel explained. “Two elements drove ingredient choices: Location and seasonality. The combination of our location, a local farm in the rustic town of Lincoln (which is only 20 minutes outside Boston but feels a world apart) and the early fall, led to my selection of jams and apples, cheeses and sausages, cornbread and hearth roasted onions.”

Chef Yankel got personal with the dishes, too. He says he created the menu from what makes him smile, what reminds him of childhood, and what tastes of nostalgia and comfort.

“The menu drives the event,” he added.

As our guests arrived, mingled, and took in the picturesque farm, they were treated to an array of appetizers that included a “Matlock Meatball” with the farm’s own beef in a smoky-sweet sun-dried tomato sauce. There was also ButcherBox filet mignon paired with orange and nutmeg-dusted shallot jam, crispy onions, and parsley, as well as other small dishes featuring ButcherBox Italian sausage and ButcherBox bacon jam.

Salad waiting for the addition of some Matlock Farm harissa beef merguez.

Sitting down at an extra-long farmhouse table under strings of lights and paper lanterns, the dinner party was greeted by a plated salad made up of local lettuces, green vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, and Matlock Farm harissa beef merguez.

After the salad course, Chef Yankel and his amazing staff served up a family-style meal centered on ButcherBox New York strip steaks marinated with coriander, lime, cilantro, and garlic EVOO, as well as ButcherBox boneless and skinless herb-marinated chicken thighs, accompanied by grilled vegetables, grilled corn with chipotle butter and lime, herb and vinegar potato salad, and cornbread with grass-fed butter.

It was as mouth-watering as it sounds. As the summer-like day faded into a crisp autumn evening, our guests and the ButcherBox team shared a few more stories (and some savory maple bacon-infused whoopie pies).

All in attendance were enriched by both Chef Yankel’s culinary creations and the great company. It was truly a one-of-a-kind customer experience.

The secrets of marinating mouthwatering meat

August 21, 2017Uncategorizedadvice, Chef Yankel, chicken, cooking secrets, healthy eating, Marinade, Marinate, Marinating, Pork, steakDennis Keohane

Quality chicken, pork, and beef can often be thrown directly on the grill without any seasoning — or with just a pinch of salt and pepper — and taste amazing. Many steaks — especially skirt, flank, and similar cuts — as well as pork and chicken, can be immensely improved with a little creativity and some great marinades.

Why marinate you ask? Marinating before grilling is an excellent way to add additional flavors AND textures to your meal.

It is the natural attributes of beef, chicken, and pork that make marinades work so well with these meats, according to ButcherBox in-house chef Yankel Polak. “The longer you leave a protein in a marinade the more flavor it should absorb,” he explained, “and, what’s more, marinating will tenderize a tough cut of meat.”

The problem is that, in reality, most marinades only penetrate about 2 millimeters deep. “And, get this,” Chef Yankel said, “it all happens in the first few seconds.”

So, while many people think that marinating meat for extended periods of time, or even overnight, is the key to having meat with amazing flavor, that’s not actually the case. “While there is nothing wrong with preparing your ingredients the day before, remember that a good marinade only needs minimal contact with your protein to do everything it’s supposed to do,” according to Chef Yankel.

But, you can’t just put anything on your meat to make it more delicious. While there are many options that you can pull right off the shelf of your grocery store to have a pretty good meal, making your own marinades is both healthier and leads to tastier food.

If you can, try to keep the marinades as all-natural as possible. It would be foolish to take a nice cut of grass-fed steak or humanely-raised pork and then douse it in some combo of corn-syrup and lab-made additives.

One thing to keep in mind when putting together a marinade is that different cuts and types of meat have different flavor profiles that will work better and make your food taste amazing.

“Think about the item you are cooking, whether that’s chicken, beef, or pork, and use ingredients in your marinade that will compliment the flavor,” Chef Yankel said.

According to our chef, the best complimentary flavor profiles are something with citrus for chicken, sweet flavors for pork, and marinades that are rich and savory for beef. This is why lemon and lime go great with other spices in chicken marinades, pineapple and maple are great to have in pork marinades, and balsamic and mushroom flavors work well on steaks.

“While they don’t alter the internal structure of the meat,” Chef Yankel added, “acidic elements in marinades will certainly give you that extra punch of flavor, the ‘wow’ factor that accompanies that first bite.”

Using a great marinade on your meat can change a mundane meal into something otherworldly. Experiment and you might discover unexpected flavor combinations that work wonders for your palate.