How do you season and marinate your steak?
I'm making steak on the grill tonight and just wanted to hear about your favorite ways to marinate or flavor it!
Hillary
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16 Comments:
Thomas Marinade. I order it from the company a half gallon at a time. I marinate steak for 20 min. but chicken and other meats can hang out longer in it.
ocarol at 5:37PM on 08/01/08
It depends on the cut. For instance, I don't marinate a porterhouse steak at all. But the other day my Other Half brought home a bag full of top round steaks, these certainly require tenderising (I usually let them marinate overnight) - my favourite marinated for them consists of white wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Shaoxing wine and minced garlic. Sometimes I may also make a simple white wine, garlic & Worcestershire marinade and serve the steak with chimichurri sauce - it's fantastic.
brooke29 at 5:51PM on 08/01/08
Depends on the cut. For a tender cut like a fillet or NY strip, or a well marbled cut like a rib-eye or a porterhouse, I just pat them dry and grill them. Season when they come off the grill with some good salt, some pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Maybe squeeze of fresh lemon juice or some chopped herbs.
For a tougher cut, like a london broil or flank steak, I like a marinade with tomato paste, herbs, garlic, soy sauce and maybe a bit of brown sugar. And then carve crosswise and serve.
kjgibson at 5:54PM on 08/01/08
If I anticipate that it's going to be a really good steak, I just use salt and pepper before I grill it.
If it needs a marinade, the one that I grew up with, and that I still like, is french dressing. The reddish-orange kind, not the mayo-y kind. Sometimes sold as Western salad dressing. When I was a kid, it was my job to slather on the dressing, then stab the heck out of the steak with a fork. Little did I know that many years later a device would exist that would do the same thing with a lot less stabbing required.
If I'm making fajitas or something else with an ethnic theme, I'll make a marinade based on the theme. No recipe, just winging it.
dbcurrie at 5:55PM on 08/01/08
Ugh, it was supposed to be "my favourite marinade for them", that's what happens when a little dachshund starts playing with you in the middle of the post! Hope that edit button is coming soon...
brooke29 at 5:59PM on 08/01/08
I like my steaks very rare so I only eat filet mignon. I don't marinate the meat in anything, nor do I put salt or butter. Slap it on a grill for 3 minutes, then add course ground pepper at the table. Voila. MEAT.
Cassaendra at 6:08PM on 08/01/08
The steaks we usually have in the house are either sirloin tips, rib eye or filet mignon. I might marinate the sirloin tips in a mixture of sherry, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and scallions. After they finish marinating, I pat them dry and season with black pepper and broil them (we don't have a grill). Rib eyes only get coarse sea salt and pepper. Then I pan roast them. I'd rather broil, but the last time I tried that I set the oven on fire. Not good. Filet mignon I will often make a sauce for, like chimichurri or prepare as au poivre. However, sometimes it's best just cooked as rare as possible and served with a good ponzu scallion sauce for dipping!
Amandarama at 7:04PM on 08/01/08
lots of salt, lots of pepper, fresh crushed garlic and olive oil.
hammondcheese at 9:39PM on 08/01/08
Soy, teriyaki, garlic, pepper. Nothing else, unless you want to add red wine. And no A-1, please.
beth1 at 11:22PM on 08/01/08
Most steaks don't measure up in the taste department. Some filets are as tasteless as unseasoned tofu. I like a top round steak about an inch and a half to 2 inches thick which I slice and insert a half dozen cloves of garlic cut in chunks. Not slices, not crushed. Chunks. Atop this goes a marinade of soy sauce and red wine, seasoning the up side of the meat then with salt, pepper, and perhaps some of Penzey's Northwoods blend. Refrigerate and each day for 3-4 days spread the marinade over the top of the steak. Don't cover the meat, even though this will mean adding a little wine to the sauce to keep it thin enough. On the day you're cooking it, whip up a batch of homemade oven freanch fries. Cook the meat as you would a roast for 15 minutes (it's thick, remember) then under hi brouil for 8-10 mins. Serve with fries.
fewteeth at 11:51PM on 08/01/08
I only marinate really tough cuts of meat. I either do a terriyaki/garlic marinade or a Worcestershire/garlic-based marinade with ginger and brown sugar.
Really great steaks like porterhouse, NY strips and filets don't need marinades.
chiff0nade at 7:00AM on 08/02/08
On a great steak like a Rib Eye only kosher salt &cracked black pepper.
London Broil (top round) will marinate overnight in Balsamic, Poupon, garlic and olive oil.
bessfour at 9:09AM on 08/02/08
On a tender cut, usually just salt and pepper, but on a less tender cut my husband's recipe (and it's sooooooo good) is
about 1/2 C lemon juice with equal amounts of soy sauce and vegetable oil, about 3 T of catsup, 3-4 cloves of garlic (minced), about 1/4 tsp pepper and 3 Tablespoons of honey or some brown sugar. Marinate 5-6 hours or overnight. Grill as desired basting frequently with marinade.
bubbamom at 10:28AM on 08/02/08
@fewteeth Steaks not tasty? If I told that to my butcher he'd be upset with me. :)
I go and buy my steaks from a butcher. I have a pretty good relationship with him, so he tries to make sure and hang on to nicer ones if he knows I'm coming 'round. I also buy better cuts, only getting the lesser ones for things like beef dip sandwiches, or other sauced meats.
If I am going to have to marinate a steak for some reason, I just use Olive oil, a bit of lemon juice or beer (beer is better), salt, pepper, garlic and a handful of chili flakes.
However, I do make a BBQ sauce that I used most times for company. Southern comfort, garlic, brown sugar, chili flakes, onion, mesquite flavouring, and some regular BBQ sauce just to help thicken it up. I'll let that cook down till it's like a thick almost paste. Then when I need some to put on my steaks, I'll add more southern comfort to thin it to the consistency I need.
thepirateking at 12:52PM on 08/02/08
A really good steak only gets dried off, rubbed with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt and crushed roasted peppercorns and cooked only to color - must be almost cold in the middle. A nice slab of truffle butter on top is gilding the lilly in a lovely way. A really nice coffee rub is a nice change sometimes.
Tougher cuts we go either Southeast (Thai) or Southwest with the appropriate liquids for the flavor we are going for. Our favorite is probably flank steak - love it grilled and sliced paper thin on a salad.
Fanciesmom at 6:52PM on 08/02/08
Depending on my mood, here are some I use:
Lime juice, soy sauce, chopped garlic, maybe a little Dijon or grainy mustard. For more of a fajita flavor, use beer instead of mustard and some chili powder.
Hoisin sauce, chopped garlic, grated ginger, dry sherry
MMinNYC at 5:59PM on 01/12/09