Tag Archives: soy sauce

10 Pantry Essentials Every Cook Should Have

May 9, 2019Plan to Cookapple cider, apple cider vinegar, avocado, avocado oil, balsamic, balsamic vinegar, barbecue, barbecue sauce, barbeque, barbeque sauce, bbq, bbq sauce, black pepper, buffalo, buffalo sauce, canned tomatos, chef, coconut, coconut amino, cook, cook tools, cooks, crushed black pepper, dijon mustard, drizzle, hot sauce, hummus, Kitchen, kitchen spices, kosher salt, mustard, olive oil, oregano, pantri, pantry, pepper, pickles, rosemary, salt, sambal, sea salt, sea salts, sesame oil, siracha, soup, soy, soy sauce, spices, stew, stews soups, tamari, thyme, tomato, tomato paste, verjus, vinegar, walnut oil, white vinegarDennis Keohane

You may have taken the first key step towards a month of great eating and ordered a ButcherBox, complete with high-quality grass-fed beef, heritage pork, and free-range, organic chicken.

But do you know what else completes a kitchen? Pantry staples, like high-quality oils, a few kinds of vinegar, dried herbs, and more.

This guide details the pantry essentials that make all the difference when preparing the delicious meals at home. The essentials that all cooks have a hands-length from their stoves include condiments like assorted vinegars, Dijon mustard, and soy sauce or their gluten-free variants. With a few of these, you can make everything from vinaigrettes and dressings to sauces, rubs, and much more.

Other necessary kitchen staples include canned tomatoes, which add richness to stews and soups, and dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

The best part? None of these staples are prohibitively expensive, and your individual purchase will probably last you quite a while.

1. High-Quality Oils

You can’t cook many meals without a cooking fat, and while grass-fed butter, ghee, or tallow might be an option, you should always keep a solid selection of healthy, high-quality cooking oils at hand.

These oils might include high heat friendly options filled with healthy fats, like avocado oil or coconut oil. For lower heat preparations, a solid bottle of olive oil should always be handy. You can even use good olive oil as a finishing touch, like a drizzle over salad or hummus.

Neutral oils like avocado oil or olive oil are also excellent bases for homemade salad dressings, and, if you’re really looking to up your pantry game, keep finishing oils like sesame oil or walnut oil on hand.

2. An Assortment of Vinegar

A good vinegar will take a good dish to great, and thankfully there are many options to choose from.

If you need to add acidic sweetness, reach for balsamic vinegar. In fact, dousing some caramelized red onions with balsamic vinegar and sugar is a sure-fire way to make a quick and delicious topping for burgers and steaks, while aged balsamic vinegar makes the perfect coating for grilled veggies.

Don’t stop at balsamic vinegar. Champagne vinegar adds a sweet note to homemade vinaigrettes, while apple cider vinegar boasts so many purported health benefits it’s hard to keep count. You can even throw it into homemade barbeque sauce for a unique bite.

Even plain old white vinegar has its place in a pantry. It’s as useful for making crispy pickles as making homemade kitchen cleanser.

3. Dijon Mustard

Yellow mustard has its place, but nothing heightens a dish more than a dollop of Dijon mustard. The traditional French mustard is made with brown mustard seeds, white wine, and a verjus made from unripe grapes. This verjus is what gives Dijon mustard its distinct, tart flavor.

Use Dijon mustard in a homemade vinaigrette for a crisp salad, or as part of a rub for various cuts of meat. These rosemary brined pork chops are a perfect example.

The best part about Dijon mustard? While it sounds fancy, it’s a pretty affordable condiment, with the store brand bottles rarely costing more than $3 and the fancy stuff only clocking in at $5 or less.

4. Soy Sauce/Tamari/Coconut Aminos

What’s the best way to build umami into your dishes? Soy sauce, a sauce made from fermented soybeans, roasted wheat, and cultures, is the ultimate, inexpensive umami condiment.

Of course, many people question the nutritional impact of soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, a specific type of soy sauce, tamari, can be made without gluten.

If you avoid soy and grains entirely, coconut aminos, a sauce made from coconut tree sap and salt, is a great alternative. While a bit less pungent and a tad sweeter than traditional soy sauce, it still packs umami flavor into dishes.

Use soy sauce or any of its alternatives in Asian-inspired fare, like this ginger pork noodle soup.

5. A Solid Hot Sauce

While the hot sauce category is vast, your favorite hot sauce is a kitchen essential. Why? Because it can be doused on most anything and elevates the flavor of whatever you’re noshing on.

Do you prefer Asian flavor profiles? Reach for the less hot, slightly sweet Sriracha, or pack in the chili garlic flavor with sambal.

Mexican and Latin America hot sauces are another great category: The options are many, but most sauces feature some kind of vinegary heat and potentially a kick of citrus like lime.

Channel pure Americana with Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce. There are, literally, thousands of hot sauces to choose from.

Use your favorite hot sauce to jazz up a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon, or incorporate it into vinaigrettes and sauces for a little kick.

6. Dried Herbs

Like hot sauce, the selection for dried herbs is vast. And while it’s great to build out your spice cabinet and experiment with various herbs, there are a few essentials we’d recommend always having on hand.

Dried oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme — commonly sold together as an Italian seasoning blend — lend bright flavors to any dish you whip up and are much more convenient in a pinch than fresh herbs.

Other dried herbs we’d consider staples include dill, which is perfect in anything from pickles to salads, and dried bay leaves, which lend depth to soups and stews.

If you’d really like to pad out your spice cabinet, add dried marjoram, ground coriander, dried mint, dried sage, and dried tarragon.

7. Coconut Milk

Canned coconut milk is a treasure, and not just because it’s suitable for most diets. The silky, fatty substance lends richness to any dish it touches, and won’t spoil as quickly as refrigerated alternatives like heavy cream or milk.

Despite it including coconut meat, coconut milk is a fairly neutral, non-dairy way to add creaminess and heft. Use coconut milk to add creaminess to soup, braise meats, or add silky texture and flavor to rice.

Pro tip: Stock up on cans of coconut milk. Whichever ones you don’t use for savory dishes, use them to make dairy-free sweets like no-churn ice cream.

8. Nut and Seed Butters

What’s your favorite? Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, tahini? Whichever nut or seed butter you prefer, it’s bound to serve many uses in your kitchen.

You can, of course, use nut butters to spread on toast, add protein to smoothies, and bake up some delicious cookies. But nut butters have serious culinary uses, too.

Peanut butter or almond butter both make excellent Asian-inspired sauces, like in this Thai almond soba noodle salad. Tahini tastes delicious in Mediterranean fare. Try it drizzled over these Mediterranean meatballs.

9. Canned Tomatoes

Whether you’re whipping up a sauce for pasta, throwing some chili in the crockpot, or cooking up beef stew or pot roast low and slow, canned tomatoes are so useful.

You can find canned tomatoes in many forms, from canned tomato paste to whole, peeled tomatoes in a can. It’s good to have a variety of these options on hand for whatever you may need. They’re inexpensive and can add flavor to nearly any dish, like this fennel and tomato Italian pork shoulder.

10. Good Salt and Black Pepper

It’s a bit of a given that you should have salt and pepper on hand. It’s rare to not add it to a dish in the kitchen. But not just any salt or pepper will do.

Iodized table salt is the most common option, but it’s not exactly the healthiest one. It’s bleached, devoid of trace elements, and often contains additives. Also, it just doesn’t taste as good as sea salt crystals.

Sea salt comes from the ocean, and is evaporated to separate the salt crystals from the water.

(Another option: ButcherBox Chef Yankel always recommends having Kosher salt on hand for seasoning steaks.)

For pepper, whole peppercorns that can be cracked in a pepper mill lend the best flavor.

An easy Bulgogi Beef Skillet recipe from Paleohacks

April 15, 2019Uncategorizedasian, Asian pear, asian pears, beef bulgogi, black pepper, brown sugar, bulgogi marinade, bulgogi marinades, bulgogi recipe, bulgogi recipes, bulgogi sauce, cast iron, cast iron skillet, cut of beef, fire meat, flank steak, garlic cloves, gluten free, grass fed beef, grass-fed, green onion, green onions, ground black pepper, high heat, korean, korean bbq, korean bbq beef, korean beef, korean bulgogi, korean cooking, korean dish, korean dishes, korean food, korean foods, koreanbul-gogi, kosher salt, large skillet, main dish, main dishes, medium-high heat, pork bulgogi, Recipe, rib eye, ribeye, ribeye steak, rice wine, sesame oil, sesame seed, sesame seeds, short rib, short ribs, shortrib, shortribs, side dish, side dishes, skirt steak, soy sauce, soy sauces, stir-fries, stir-fry, stove-top, stovetop, thin slices, vegetable oilDennis Keohane

If you’re craving takeout, try this easy, one skillet beef bulgogi recipe from our friends at Paleohacks for sweet and spicy flavor with zero soy, MSG, or preservatives!

Bulgogi is a popular Korean recipe that translates literally to “fire meat.” Super thin slices of strip steaks, sirloin steak, or ribeye are marinated in spices until tender, then grilled or pan-fried. The result is a sticky, crispy, and slightly spicy recipe that can be turned into a complete meal with a side of cauliflower rice or stir-fried veggie noodles.

The unique marinade includes ripe, grated Asian pear for sweetness, texture, and tang. The acidity in the pear also helps to tenderize the meat. If you can’t find Asian pears, a traditional pear will work just fine. To add a subtle spice to the marinade, use gochugaru, the bright red Korean red pepper. This powder is less spicy than cayenne and creates a balanced heat that lets the other flavors shine through.

Coconut sugar stands in for brown sugar, adding sweetness and helping to crisp the steak for delicious texture. Finally, toasted sesame oil adds nutty aroma while ginger, garlic, and coconut aminos add even more flavor and dimension.

To make the bulgogi, mix all the ingredients for the marinade together, add to the sliced beef, and refrigerate for at least two hours. Then, grease a medium skillet with avocado oil—not olive oil. Avocado oil has a high smoke heat point that can withstand high cooking temperatures without burning. Cook the steak about two minutes per side, in two batches.

To serve, top the hot steak slices with sesame seeds and scallions, and enjoy!

If you’re craving more takeout recipes but don’t feel like cooking, check out one of these 13 totally Paleo meal delivery options!

Paleohacks’ Korean-style BBQ Bulgogi Beef Skillet

Prep time- 10 minutes

Cook time- 10 minutes

Chill time- 4 hours

Total time- 4 hours, 20 minutes

Serves- 4

Tools

Mixing bowl

Skillet

Tongs

Ingredients

For the Marinade

1/3 cup grated Asian pear, peeled

1 T Korean red pepper (or chili powder)

1 T coconut sugar

1 T lime juice

2 T toasted sesame oil

2 T coconut aminos

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t sea salt

For the Steak:

2 10-oz strip steaks, thinly sliced

1 t avocado oil

1/2 t sesame seeds, for serving

1/4 cup chopped green onion, for serving

Directions

1. Combine ingredients for marinade in a mixing bowl and stir well.

2. Add steak slices and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.

3. Grease a skillet with avocado oil and heat over medium-high heat for a few minutes. When hot, use tongs to add half of the marinated steak strips and cook for 2 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 2 minutes.

4. Transfer steak to a bowl and repeat with remaining strips.

5. Serve the beef bulgogi hot garnished with sesame seeds and green onion.

Substantial salads: Meaty salads to keep you nourished

September 12, 2018Outside the Boxasian, beef salad, beef salads, blue cheese, buttermilk dressing, caesar salad, california, cherry tomatoes, chicken salad, chicken salads, chopped salad, chopped salads, cobb salad, feta cheese, flank steak, flank steak salad, fresh spinach, goat cheese, greek, green bean, green beans, grilled chicken, grilled chicken salad, grilled steak, hearty salad, hearty salads, lettuce salad, lettuce salads, main dish salads, main-dish salad, make ahead, mango salad, meat lover, meat lovers, noodle salad, noodle salads, olive oil, pasta salad, pasta salads, pork tenderloin, red onion, red onions, romaine lettuce, romaine salad, salad dressing, salad dressings, salad recipe, salad recipes, southern, southwestern, soy sauce, steak salad, steak salads, strip steak, strip steaks, thaiDennis Keohane

When you think of meaty, hearty, satisfying meals, salads may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But salads, with their plentiful varieties, are a brilliant way to get in a balanced, nourishing meal.

Whether it’s a meat-packed salad complemented by fruits and veggies — like this tarragon and 3 apple chicken salad—or it’s a mound of grilled steak served atop a bed of lettuce and other veggies, salads pack in nutrients without compromising flavor.

You’re not limited to lettuce, either. Try cold noodle salads or veggie varietal salads. Whatever kind of meaty salads you’re craving, this list of salad recipes delivers substantial, vibrant, and healthy meals.

Tarragon and 3 Apple Chicken Salad

Need an easy, delicious, and nutritious salad that will fuel you till dinner? Try this tarragon and 3 apple chicken salad, rife with zingy flavors from tarragon, white wine (preferably one with stone fruit notes), garlic, Dijon mustard, and more.

The salad itself boasts a crisp variety of apples, including Granny Smith, Gala, and Honeycrisp. Celery and pistachios add even more crunch. At the center of it all is ultra-tender, ultra-juicy grilled chicken breast cubes.

Spring Pea Chicken Salad

This spring pea chicken salad is the epitome of spring, thanks to the abundance of seasonal produce and deliciously refreshing poached chicken breast. Enjoy fresh peas, sugar snap peas, pea shoots, dried apricots, and almonds for a delicious textural meld.

The chicken is poached in a white wine, thyme, and butter mixture, making for fork-tender, refreshing meat. The salad dressing is impressive in and of itself, with white balsamic vinegar, shallots, thyme, avocado oil, dried apricots, salt, and pepper. For even more flavor, make the dressing one day in advance and dress the chicken in the vinaigrette before serving.

Grilled Greek Marinated Chicken Breast with Peach and Endive Salad

Here’s a hearty salad that you can throw together in 30 minutes. While simple, this grilled Greek marinated chicken breast with peach and endive salad does not compromise on flavor. Marinated in a zingy Greek vinaigrette (we like the one created by Primal Kitchen), the chicken is grilled for a few minutes for the perfect char then finished off in the oven. An abundance of produce joins this grilled chicken salad, including peaches, avocado, endive, red onion, scallions, and corn. Throw in some feta cheese for even more zest, and you’re in for a nourishing, complete, and healthy meal.

Lemon Turmeric Marinated Flank Steak with Lentil and Beet Salad

This lemon turmeric marinated flank steak with lentil and beet salad couldn’t be easier to throw together. Perfectly cooked flank steak, which cooks up in minutes, and a salad of pre-cooked lentils, pre-cooked beets, and curry-seasoned and roasted cauliflower, are all dressed in lemon turmeric vinaigrette. This salad is a bevy of textures and flavors and makes for an ideal, speedy weeknight dinner or a make-ahead meal.

Seared Flat Iron Steak with Roasted Veggie Salad

If you’re craving all the trappings of a salad but prefer something warm, this seared flat iron steak with roasted veggie salad delivers. Flat iron steaks are seared and basted in butter then transferred to the oven to finish up for a few minutes. Then, turn up your oven and toss in a mélange of cauliflower, butternut squash, and Portobello mushrooms. Once those are thoroughly roasted, serve everything on a bed of greens with some crisp bacon and pomegranate arils. Toss in a salad dressing of orange juice, balsamic vinegar, whole grain mustard, shallots, orange zest, garlic, and olive oil. You’re good to go.

Thai Almond Soba Noodle Salad

Asian noodle salads make for a cool, creamy and refreshing meal any time of the day, and this Thai almond soba noodle salad is no exception. While it requires a bit of prep time, it cooks up incredibly fast.

Hearty flank steak gets the umami treatment with a marinade of fresh ginger, Tamari, mirin, garlic, fish sauce, and sambal chili paste. Seared quickly in a cast iron skillet then finished in the oven in minutes, it’s ultra-tender and flavorful. Cooked soba noodles are tossed with broccoli, red pepper, sugar snap peas, carrots, and toasted almond slices. An insanely flavor-packed Thai almond sauce finishes the dish off, complete with sesame oil, garlic, ginger, green curry paste, lime juice, tamari, honey, sambal chili paste, fish sauce, almond butter, coconut milk, salt, and cilantro.

Greek Salad with Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette Chicken Skewers

This simple Greek salad with Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette chicken skewers takes minutes to throw together. Simply marinate chicken beforehand in Greek vinaigrette, then grill it on skewers for 10 to 14 minutes. Toss together romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, English cucumber, Kalamata olives, and red onion. Throw in some more of the Greek salad dressing, and you’ve got a light but filling grilled chicken salad full of tangy and satisfying flavors.

Pork, Tomato, and Mango Salad

Sick of just having chicken or steak on your salad? Pork tenderloins, ever-admired for their versatility, make a great stand-in here. For this pork, tomato, and mango salad, grill pork tenderloin and corn on the cob for perfect charred flavor, then toss the pair on top of a salad of romaine lettuce, mango, tomato, cucumber, and red onion. Dress the whole thing in a simple balsamic vinaigrette, and you’re in for a tangy, sweet and savory meal.

Southwestern Steak Salad with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

Need a steak salad with Southwestern flair? Try this Southwestern steak salad with jalapeno ranch salad dressing, chock full of big, bold flavors. With taco-seasoned, grilled top sirloin steak and a diverse veggie and bean selection, this romaine salad is hearty and satisfying. Enjoy the combination of Roma tomatoes, corn, avocado, red onion, black beans, and of course, romaine lettuce. Throw in a homemade spicy jalapeno ranch dressing, and you’re in for a treat.

For your grilling pleasure – Asian marinades and cooking styles to use this summer

May 11, 2018Uncategorizedasian marinade, brown sugar, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, fish sauce, fresh ginger, garlic cloves, green onions, hoisin sauce, hot chili sauce, minced garlic, pork chops, pork tenderloin, rice vinegar, rice wine vinegar, secret ingredient, sesame oil, sesame seeds, simple marinade, soy sauceDennis Keohane

People have been marinating meat for a long time. The word “marinade” is derived from the Latin term for seawater, aqua marina, a language evolution that is connected to the long-used practice of brining meat. Brining involves salt or saltwater and was primarily used to preserve meat so that it would last longer. It is also believed that brining was used to add flavor to poultry, fish and other meats.

While brining has been used in areas close to the sea, like areas bordering the Mediterranean, the process of marination is a global phenomenon. Whether done to add flavor or to tenderize meat, most marinades and meat sauces contain some acidic or enzymatic ingredients such as lemon juice, red wine, vinegar, ginger or fruits.

Southeast Asian marinades are sweet and savory, due to their propensity to include soy, ginger, and fruits. Marinades that come from tropical islands tend to rely heavier on fruits like pineapple and papaya, while marinades in western Asia rely more heavily on curry, a combination of turmeric, fresh ginger, chilis, and cumin.

Marinades and sauces of Asia — heavy on the soy

Soy sauce marinades

Many Asian marinades are sweet and savory, and, at times, spicy. Some of the more popular marinades from Asia are sauces used as condiments or added after cooking. A large number of marinades and sauces that derive from Asia are made from soybeans or their byproducts.

Soy sauce was first made in China and is believed to have first been created almost 2,000 years ago. Soy sauce is also derived from soybeans. It is fermented soybeans with grains, some salt/brine, and even mold cultures like Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae. Although it originated in China, the use of soy sauce spread rapidly across southeast Asia and eventually made its way to Europe.

In Chinese cuisine, there are many different types of soy sauce that can be used in dishes featuring vegetables, pork, chicken, beef or fish. It is one of the most commonly used “spices” in food originating in China. In Japanese culture, soy sauce is prominent in what is known as the teriyaki style of cooking, which involves grilling or broiling glazed foods with the namesake teriyaki sauce that is a combination of soy sauce, sugar, and sake or mirin. Teriyaki-style and the simple marinade used for cooking is great with some chicken breasts (thinned of course), steaks, or pork tenderloin.

For other marinades, soy sauce is combined with sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions, ginger, and sometimes fish sauce or hot chili sauce.

Soy sauce is not the secret ingredient for Chinese and Japanese cuisines only; its use is widespread across southeast Asia and is even a key ingredient in many traditional Hawaiian dishes.

Beyond China and Japan, soy sauce is used to marinate beef — with brown sugar, garlic, rice wine vinegar, ginger, sesame oil, and freshly ground black pepper — for Korean barbecue. In Indonesia and the Philippines, soy sauce is most commonly mixed with brown sugar and sometimes molasses and used as a marinade.

Soy sauce is used in marinades outside of Asia, as many steakhouses use soy sauce in some of their steak marinades across Europe and America.

Hoisin

Hoisin is a sweet and salty Chinese sauce is most often added as a glaze after cooking. Most commonly made with some combination of vinegar, soybeans, fennel seeds, red chilis, and minced garlic, it is used primarily as a dipping sauce or glaze. However, hoisin is also used in stir-frys and as a barbecue sauce.

As a marinade, Hoisin sauce is best for pork chops or fried or grilled chicken thighs or tenders. Some chefs experimenting with hoisin have combined it with fresh garlic cloves, chilis, and some sugar for a pre-cooking marinade for steak tips, tougher steaks like skirt steak, and even rib-eye.

Interestingly, the word hoisin is Chinese for “seafood,” yet it contains no fish and is used on other meats like pork, duck, and beef more prevalently than seafood. Fish sauce, which is very salty like soy sauce, is a completely different Chinese condiment.

Indian-inspired flavor

Heading west, you find fewer beef marinades and more sauces used for fish and chicken. One major reason for this is the influence of Hinduism — which prohibits eating cattle — in countries like India. Chicken dishes that derive from India, such as tikka masala and tandoori chicken, rely on marinades that combine a range of different spices with yogurt. Both tikka masala and tandoori are marinated in a yogurt-based sauce that can include ginger, chilis, cayenne, cumin, turmeric, minced garlic, and sometimes coconut and cinnamon.

These foods that rely on what are known as “curry” marinades or sauces are most often used on chicken or fish. However, because of religious beliefs, the eating of meat is forbidden in some circles, and so this popular sauce is also used in vegetable dishes.

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean marinades

In Mediterranean Asia, the shawarma cooking style is one of the most popular ways to cook meat like chicken, beef, turkey, or lamb. The meat for shawarma usually is marinated in spices similar to Indian cuisines; they use a marinade or rub that is some combination of turmeric, cayenne, garlic, cumin, paprika, and olive oil.

Once marinated, the meat is packed onto a spit and then grilled over a long period of time, such as an entire day. This style of cooking eventually gained popularity in Mediterranean Europe; if you’ve ever eaten a Greek gyro or kebab, you’ve had the meat cooked shawarma-style and combined with a yogurt-based sauce and fresh vegetables.

Interestingly, the shawarma method of cooking is also connected to Latin American cuisine. Al pastor — a popular Mexican pork dish used in tacos — is supposed to be cooked on a spit and is prepared in a shawarma-like marinade that often adds pineapple. How did that happen? Lebanese refugees who arrived in Mexico in the twentieth century combined the cuisine of their home with the fruit and spice influences they discovered in Latin America.

Try out an Asian marinade

Now that you have a whole plethora of different flavors to try with your grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, and heritage-breed pork this summer., it’s time to make like a true chef and get to mixing these amazing marinades together. Whether you let them marinate for an hour or an entire day, once you pull your Asian-influenced meat off the grill, you’ll thank us.

Check out some of our favorite recipes and cooking methods from ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak for a deeper dive into Asian marinades.

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!

London Broil: A dish that is most often grilled and has nothing to do with England

March 29, 2018Uncategorizedbalsamic vinegar, beef cuts, best cuts, chuck, cooking method, cooking times, delmonico steak, england, filet mignon, flank steak, flat iron, ground meat, high heat, london broil recipe, medium-rare, north american, philadelphia, pot roast, rib eye, sirloin steak, skirt steak, soy sauce, specific cut, standing rib roast, steak sandwich, the marinade, top blade steakDennis Keohane

Beef dish names can be so odd.

London broil is just another example of the beef industry’s propensity for attaching names to cuts of meat that are confusing, don’t quite fit, or, sometimes, are quite unappetizing.

The Delmonico steak, for instance, was supposedly “invented” at Delmonico’s in New York; but the exact cut of beef that was used is often debated. Steak lovers aren’t sure whether a Delmonico is boneless ribeye steak, a bone-in top loin steak, or a boneless top loin strip steak. The Denver steak was “discovered” in the last decade, and its name comes more from the work of a marketing team than to any direct connection to the Mile-High City. And don’t get me started on the contrast between the tender and tasty flat iron steak and the old, hunk of metal used for straightening clothes from which its name is derived.

But London broil might be in a class of its own when it comes to its unique (and misleading) name. The cut — or cooking method to be more precise — has no connection to the capital of England, and, these days, it is rarely broiled.

A North-American treat

The most mind-blowing part about London broil is that it is completely unheard of in, of all places, London. The name may be a bit of the same trickery used with the Denver steak.

As far as most people can gather, London broil was first cooked in Philadelphia. The history behind the name is lost to time, but the best theory for its relation to the city of London is that the name was meant to add status — and an association to a British sensibility and European economic prestige.

London broil can be both a cut of beef and a way to prepare and cook a steak.

In the late twentieth century, it would be commonplace to go to the grocery store butcher and get a “London broil,” which would be one of the more inexpensive cuts. Likely, the steak consumers of that era were getting a flank steak — which didn’t have the same popularity as it does these days as a favorite for fajitas, steak sandwiches, and other such dishes. The proper, regal sounding name may have been meant to appeal to consumers who might have perceived the affordable steak as a way to rise above their means.

The steak was likely brought home and cooked directly under the broiler in the oven until a crispy crust formed. Maybe some salt and pepper was a part of the cooking process. It was then sliced and served.

Many remember the dish as tough or flavorless. Those unfortunate food memories are likely due to the cooking practice of broiling on high heat as well as the lack of a critical step that is used to make London broil today: The marinade.

Many reflect fondly — and still enjoy to this day — a good London broil, we’ll share some best practices below to ensure you can delight in this delicious steak as well.

You just won’t ever find the steak in the city of London because it simply does not exist there; it is purely the product of the United States.

What exactly is London broil?

According to most accounts, those who remember getting London broil from the supermarket butcher recall it being a flank steak, or, sometimes, a thick piece of flank steak. (While it would make sense for skirt steak to be used as London broil due to its similarity to flank steak, there don’t seem to be many instances of that occurring.)

ButcherBox grass-fed “London broil” comes from one of the best cuts from the round primal of a cow; it is a great steak found in the rear leg section that doesn’t produce many good cuts of beef. According to ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak, the 6-ounce cut that can be found in a monthly ButcherBox is “the most flavor of all the round steaks.”

You may also discover that various beef cuts such as the top round, the bottom round, sirloin steak tip, chuck shoulder, or chuck steak is also labeled as “London broil.”

The main reason for this is that London broil is most often a cooking method that involves marinating a less tender cut, pan-broiling or grilling the steak and then slicing it — across the grain — into thin slices.

What many people love about London broil is its flavor. And while previous generations may have skipped a key step, it is the marinating of the beef that explains its popularity.

Whether a flank steak or round steak, when marinated right, it is a great dish. There is no best way to marinate a London broil, but combinations of soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mushroom sauce, red wine, rosemary, and other spices work best for the marinade.

The marinade can also be poured over the steak after cooking for added flavor. Chef Yankel thinks London broil is best served with a thick steak sauce or and easy-to-make au jus.

Don’t forget to CUT AGAINST THE GRAIN. If you don’t follow this essential step, you can quickly turn what would have been a tender steak into a tough cut — because you didn’t break the steak’s connective tissue — that is not easy to eat.

How to cook a London broil

As the name implies, a London broil is supposed to be oven-broiled in a shallow pan. Broiling has long been the traditional method of preparation.

However, these days, London broil is more likely to be grilled on an open flame over high heat than thrown into the oven. The reason? It may be that people feel they have more control over the doneness of their steaks when cooking on a grill.

The current popularity of grilling over an open flame rather than under a broiler may have to do with remembrances of eating a dried out, flavorless steak in the past. When cooked right, you can get a melt-in-your-mouth London broil cooked in the oven. It requires a diligent eye on cooking time and a great marinade.

If cooking on a grill, Chef Yankel suggests preheating until the surface of the grill is extremely hot. Right before putting the steak that has already gone through the marinating process on the open flame, he suggests quickly rubbing an olive oil-soaked cloth over it.

For a medium-rare London broil, Chef Yankel says to cook the room temperature steak on the hottest part of the grill for 3 minutes per side, rotating the steak on the grates 90 degrees each minute and a half. This process will give the steak a nice sear. (You can also get a great sear by using Chef Yankel’s pan-frying method as well.)

Then put the steak on the cooler section of the grill and let it cook for four more minutes on each side. Use a meat thermometer to make sure that the thickest part of the steak reaches 120° F. Another key step is to make sure the steak rests for between six to ten minutes so that it cooks evenly and the flavorful juices are distributed throughout.

Again, make sure to cut against the grain when slicing. And enjoy!

If you are a ButcherBox member, Chef Yankel will be sharing one of his favorite London broil recipes in future boxes and on the member recipe page. If you aren’t already getting healthy grass-fed beef and other delicious thoughtfully-sourced meats delivered to your door each month, sign up here.