What picnic would be complete without kebabs or grilled steaks? From April until the end of autumn, lovers of country holidays and country gatherings are required to light a fire and cook fried meat, chicken wings, barbecue and various sausages on smoldering coals. And in order for every meal to turn into a celebration, chefs advise marinating barbecue products in advance.
Before proceeding directly to frying portioned pieces, it is recommended to keep the meat in the marinade for a certain time, which depends on the acidity and other characteristics of the products used for the marinade. For example, pieces of meat mixed with exotic kiwi pulp soften in just 2 hours, and sparkling mineral water can soften meat fibers in just an hour and a half.
Today we offer recipes for three types of marinade for meat products for your culinary repertoire: oil-lemon, soy-honey and garlic-fermented milk.Meat aged in each of them acquires a taste that can conquer even the most demanding gourmet, becomes unusually tender, when fried, is covered with the finest golden crust, and the flesh of each piece literally exudes piquant juice.
Lemon marinade
The recipe is usually used with pork. By the way, the most delicious and juicy kebab comes from the neck. For lovers of leaner foods, we recommend trying to cut portions from the adrenal gland.
Ingredients for 2 kg of meat:
- lemon – 1 medium-sized fruit;
- onions – 3 pcs.;
- unrefined olive seed oil – 40 ml;
- table salt – 2 teaspoons;
- hops-suneli – 1 teaspoon;
- dried basil - 1 coffee spoon.
Pour boiling water over the citrus fruit, cut off the thin zest from the lemon, and grate it on the finest grater. Then squeeze the juice into a ceramic bowl or pan, add zest, olive oil, aromatic herbs and salt. Cut the peeled onions into rings. Immerse the onion and portioned pieces of meat into the prepared mixture and mix thoroughly, kneading them with your fingers. The product is marinated in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.
Honey marinade
It is best to cook veal kebab with this spicy marinade. Its rich spicy taste with oriental notes will highlight the beauty of the finished product and give the pieces an amazing chocolate-golden hue.
Ingredients for 2 kg of meat:
- honey (forest, mountain, meadow, heather, sunflower) - 1 tablespoon;
- soy sauce with ginger or mushrooms – 50 ml;
- vegetable oil (preferably sesame or nut oil) – 20 ml;
- garlic – 2 large cloves;
- ground black pepper – 1 coffee spoon;
- coriander seeds – 1 coffee spoon;
- clove buds – 5-6 pcs.;
- finely ground sea salt – 2 tsp.
Melt the candied honey in a water bath, simply pour the liquid honey into a prepared dry container. Pass the peeled garlic cloves through a press and mix all the ingredients in a glass bowl. The time for marinating pieces of veal in a spicy soy-honey mixture is 7-8 hours. Before frying, remove the clove buds and leave the cilantro seeds.
Fermented milk marinade
Fermented milk products (natural yogurt, kefir, ayran, kumis, katyk) soften all types of meat (veal, beef, pork, lamb). This recipe is also suitable for marinating chicken wings, legs, thighs and breasts.
Ingredients for 2 kg of meat or poultry:
- kefir or yogurt – 0.25 l;
- fresh garlic – 3 cloves;
- juice squeezed from one lime;
- fresh peppermint leaves – 10 pcs.;
- regular salt – 2 tsp;
- mixture of peppers (black, allspice, white) – 1 coffee spoon;
- coriander greens – 5 sprigs.
Grind mint and coriander leaves, as well as garlic cloves, in a mortar. We combine all the components in an enamel pan and marinate portioned pieces of poultry or meat in them. Marinating time for chicken is 4 hours, pork is 7 hours, lamb, veal and beef is 12 hours.
Choose the marinade to taste and according to the type of meat. And to make the kebab on skewers look elegant and attractive, string the pieces interspersed with onion rings, pieces of multi-colored sweet peppers and small orange and red tomatoes.
Enjoy your holiday and enjoy delicious meals in the fresh air at any time of the year!
