Meat Marinade

 For years my family has used McCormick's Meat Marinade, mostly for flank steaks. It is the flavor of my childhood cookouts. Alas they have discontinued it. After some digging on the internet my brother found a recipe that is pretty similar in flavor although not an exact match.

Meat Marinade

makes enough to marinade about 2 pounds of steak

 

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp minced onions

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

 

1/4 c vegetable oil

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp water

Mix the seasonings together then add the soy sauce, oil, vinegar, and water. Use either a 9x13 glass pan or mix in a bowl and put into a large resealable bag.

Pierce tougher cuts of meat a few times with a fork and add to marinade. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for more flavor. Remove steak from marinade; discard any remaining marinade.

Grill, broil, or roast until steak is cooked to desired doneness. 

Note: you can use powdered soy sauce and make a big batch of the seasoning mix. Be sure to keep in a sealed container. No need to add extra water if using powdered soy sauce. If doing a big batch use 2 Tbsp and 2 1/2 tsp of the season mix.

Foil Dinners

Ah, camping food! We just got back from a two week vacation to Colorado - the Rocky Mountains, Leadville, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was a wonderful taste of fall and the mountains were spectacular! I love Colorado.

Besides just getting away one of the treats about camping, at least for us, is the food. Since we tent camp we need easy to prepare and stuff that doesn't take up a lot of room in the cooler or grocery bags in the back of the car. That means we eat some of those semi-processed foods that I don't buy at home, things like Hamburger Helper or spaghetti sauce in a jar. We also have some food, like foil dinners, that we only make when we're camping. I suppose we could make them in the grill (we have a charcoal one) or in the firepit (which we did once) but I just don't think about making them if we're not camping. This trip we had the one we always make - hamburgers, sliced potatoes, carrots, and onions but I also found a new foil dinner that we really liked. At home this could easily be a sheet pan dinner, just cut everything up and roast in a 400* oven.

Note: adjust the amount of ingredients to the number of people you have and what you like.


Sausage & Veggie Foil Dinner
serves 2

1/2 smoked sausage, sliced
3 potatoes, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 small red onion (or 1/2 a larger one), thinly sliced

Divide the ingredients between two large pieces of foil. Season with salt and pepper then fold over and seal the packets. Cook over coals for about 30-40 minutes, turning the packets every 10 minutes or so. Be careful of the steam when opening.

Chicken and Sausage Skewers

This recipe is from the Food section of The Washington Post from a few years ago. I saw it, thought it sounded good, made it a few times and found it to be delicious, then forgot about it. For some reason it came to mind again last month, but it took me a while to find the recipe. Turns out it was in my recipe box. I made it a few weeks ago for the family and again Saturday night when we had friends over. It was a big hit both times. So glad I found it again.

Chicken and Sausage Skewers
serves 6

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 c mild olive oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 to 2 lbs mild link sausage*


In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, mustard, vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the mixture into a large ziploc bag and add the chicken pieces. Close the bag and gently shake to combine thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.

If using precooked sausage, cut into 3/4 inch pieces and refrigerate until ready to use. If using fresh sausage, poach the sausages in simmering water for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the water and let cool, then cut into 3/4 inch pieces and refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the grill. On one skewer thread a piece of chicken, then sausage (sideways, through the skin), repeat ending with a piece of chicken until you have skewered all the meat. Cook on the grill over medium heat about 6 minutes per side.

*You can use any type of sausage you like, pork, turkey, chicken sausage w/seasoning, or sweet Italian, which is what I usually use.