Marinade Magic

I had gotten a chuck steak from my CSA, and I had no idea what to do with it. I'd heard of ground chuck certainly, and chuck roasts, and even stew meat made from chuck. But an inch-thick steak? Bruce Aidells to the rescue; his Complete Meat Cookbook is a treasure trove of info and recipes for all the different cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and veal. He suggested I marinate it, so I used his recipe for Chipotle-Orange Marinade, and then grilled it. The flavor was great, but the meat was a bit too fatty for me to really enjoy it. I certainly won't seek out chuck steak again, but I will definitely use this marinade for other cuts:

Chipotle-Orange Marinade

2 tsp grated orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
⅓ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp chopped canned chipotle chile in adobo (or you could substitute 1 tsp red pepper flakes)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

You know the drill: Mix it all together in a zip-lock bag, prick the steak all over with a fork, and marinate overnight.

Comments

[Joel]

Bruce Aidells is a meat-god. I started making my own sausages several years ago, and his was the first book I picked up, and the one I tend to riff off of the most often. The Yankee Sage Sausage is really splendid!

This marinade sounds great - going on the MUST TRY list.

Joel