Looking for something that gives some “zip” to boring boneless chicken breasts? Here’s a solution! This marinade ended up being our version of this summer’s “go to” marinade for grilling - I think we even used it in the oven one evening when it was raining and we couldn’t fire up the grill. It started out with me hunting and grabbing things out of the pantry for a quick concoction.
Our “go to” protein for this marinade is chicken - generally, boneless chicken breast cutlets, but I prefer boneless chicken thighs. However, I easily see this being used for turkey, beef, fish (e.g., Chilean Sea Bass or Halibut or some other fish you like to grill), or pork.
Ingredients
2 - 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or Tamari Sauce for those who like to stay gluten free)
2 - 3 tablespoons honey (Tip - Try to use a locally sourced light color honey - none of that store bought pseudo sweet syrup they call honey these days)
2 - 3 tablespoons canola oil
2 - 3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 - 3 tablespoons dry white wine
1-2 teaspoon ground ginger (Tip: Aileen buys "Gourmet Garden" lightly dried ginger - I was at first skeptical, but I have found that I like this product a LOT - you might find it in the produce section) - Sometimes I forget to add it when making the marinade, but as soon as I taste the meat - I have that “hmmm, something’s missing” moment - and I immediately know what it is. I think it help add another depth of flavor to the dish - it's a lot closer to real ginger than ginger powder and has more real flavor than the tubed ginger paste you find in the store. We don't cook with fresh ginger as often as we should so we don't generally have it on hand all the time.
2 medium to large cloves of garlic - grated, finely minced, or made into a paste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground mustard (I prefer Coleman's dry mustard power)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 - 3 pinches of Pimient D'Esplette (don’t know what this is? look it up, get some, and make it a staple in your kitchen spice pantry - more on this in another post).
Directions
Mix all of your wet ingredients together to make sure as much of the honey is incorporated as possible to minimize the honey "globs".
After incorporating the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients and whisk to make sure there are incorporated into the marinade. Taste the marinade and adjust any ingredients you’d like - that's the beauty of this marinade - it's forgiving and very versatile. I say this, because I have sometimes forgotten one or more of the ingredients and it is still good.
Add your protein (this recipe is good for 4 - 6 boneless chicken cutlets or thighs)
Marinade the protein for 2 - 4 hours (up to 6 - 8) before grilling. I wouldn't marinade fish for more than 1 hour. NOTE: When grilling - reserve the left over marinade for basting the grilled food 1/2 way through the cooking for each side of the item.
Please feel free to leave me some comments / suggestions.
As Always - Best Regards and Bon AppetIT!!!
The I.T. Gourmet
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