6/28/2006

Variation on a Theme


I made another cilantro/lime marinade last night, and I have to say this version is even better (sorry, Stonewall Kitchens). I put a couple of handfuls of washed and dried, fresh cilantro in the blender. I added the juice of two limes, about a half a teaspoon of salt, some fresh coriander seeds, peppercorns, and a little whole cumin seeds. Then I blended. After everything was chopped up, I added olive oil to form an emulsion like last time. I gave it a taste, and it needed something more. Remembering that I had seen salad dressing recipes with lime call for orange juice, I looked in the fridge for something sweet. No orange juice, but I did have mango juice. I dipped a little bit of the marinade on one spoon and a little bit of mango juice on the other to try the two out. Oh my was that good!I added about 1/4C of the juice and blended well.

I marinated chicken breasts in the marinade and then brushed more on while the chicken cooked.

I tried the Cook's Illustrated version of grilled corn on the cob. They say to peel the corn down to the last layer of husk, grill 8-12 minutes, turning every minute in a half. Master Chef Maurice is against the grilled corn idea, but I thought I would try it out. Result: It tasted kind of nice and nutty, but it was a lot of work to stand over the grill turning it every minute and a half. The regular boiling method produces fine corn with much less work.

4 comments:

SF Mom of One said...

WHat is the difference between grilling and roasting? During my Peace Corps time in Kenya, in the 80s, there were lots of vendors selling fresh roasted corn on the street. They had charcoal grill things, and laid the corn on it for a while...can't remember with how much husk. They start with harder (more mature?) corn, so the product was pretty chewy.

Anonymous said...

Cilantro sauce?
Have you heard of Chimmichurri (sp?)sauce? Trader Joe's used to carry a great one that was so good with tri-tip. They discontinued it, it was from Argentina I believe.I think it may have had some vinegar in it, which would give the acid that your limes did.
Sounds wonderful Deb!

Anonymous said...

Here's a chimichurri recipe from my friend Dan Perlman's great food/wine blog:

¼ cup olive oil
½ cup warm water
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
1 green onion or scallion, chopped
1 small tomato, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon marjoram leaves
2 bay leaves

Process all the ingredients except the bay leaves in a processor or blender until coarsely chopped. Add the bay leaves and let the whole thing steep for at least 12 hours - shake it up or stir it every now and again. Use within a few days to preserve the freshness. Not that that will be a problem once you taste this!

http://www.saltshaker.net/

Omar Cruz said...

this report is fantastic, the infomation you show us is really interesting and is good written. Do you want to see something more? Look: this is a good page, you can visit too:Head Shop, Herbal Grinders
Bongs, Glass Pipe. Visit us for more info at: http://www.headshopinternational.com/