Mr. Gooch Cooks (Southwestern Marinade)

Mr. Gooch loves to grill. In the winter, he even shovels a path to our grill from the back sidewalk. To me, it shows dedication when you need a hat, gloves and winter coat to cook dinner. But then again, I also love the grilled meat so if he wants to brave the elements, who am I to stop him.

Part of his love of grilling, is creating marinades for the various meats to be cooked on the grill. One of his favorites is this recipe for Southwest Marinade. This mixture lends a spicy heat to steaks and I think would be nice on chicken too. (I will have to report back on that one.) The best part is this marinade works best if you let the meat soak up the flavors overnight so make it up the night before and the steaks will be ready to go when you get home from work.

The source for this recipe is the depths of his brain and a too full cupboard of spices, vinegars and oils.

Southwest Marinade
(Source: the depths of Mr. Gooch's brain)
Ingredients
1/2 c olive oil
1 t worchestershire sauce
1 t chipotle Tabasco sauce
2 T BBQ & Roasting Vinegar (red wine vinegar can be substituted)
1 t Grill Mates Montreal Streak seasoning
1 t taco seasoning
1 t Kirkland Sweet Mesquite seasoning
1/4 t liquid smoke
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 c water

Directions
In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients.
Place meat in an appropriate sized Ziploc bag.
Pour mixture over meat.
Seal bag and place in refrigerator.
Turn meat occasionally.
Marinate at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours.

Friend Favorite from Mr. White: BBQ Salmon

**This post is the first of what will be an ongoing series of posts highlighting favorite recipes of friends and family.**

I love salmon. I could probably eat it every day. Now, Mr. Gooch isn't as much a fan since salmon has a fishier taste than some other types of fish. But when Mr. White, Mr. Gooch's closest friend and Best Man, made this recipe, he was hooked as well. The marinade has just enough heat without being to causing your lips to burn and the citrus flavors are a nice balance.

When we made this Tuesday night, I had to make a small change. I didn't have any OJ left so I used 2 Tablespoons of lime juice instead of the 1/4 Cup OJ. I don't think it affected the taste much as it was still so good.

And I think this would work well with chicken as well.

Barbecue Salmon
Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice (I used 2 T lime juice instead)
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, about 1-inch thick

Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne.

Marinate salmon in the orange juice mixture for 20 minutes to an hour.

Place fillets on a hot grill. (I made the fillets in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees)

Barbecue for 15 minutes, coating occasionally with marinade, until a fork can be easily inserted into the salmon. (Fillets baked in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes)

A Ms. Gooch Creation - Salmon with Lime Lake Shore Drive Seasoning Marinade

As part of my recent acquisition of a number of spices. mixes, rubs and blends from Penzeys and The Spice House, I secured a jar of Lake Shore Drive Seasoning from The Spice House. This is a great blend that contains shallots, dried green peppers, chives, salts and peppers.

I made a marinade for salmon fillets from this blend by mixing it with olive oil and lime juice. I then let the fillets marinate for about 1 hour or so.

Holy crap!! This was totally tasty. It was so good that I did not get a photo of the finished product before it was consumed. Maybe next time, since this will definitely be repeated.

I am pretty proud of myself since it is usually Mr. Gooch who creates the marinades from various ingredients making the tasty dish.

Lake Shore Drive Marinade (for salmon)
Ingredients
2 1/2 Tablespoon Lake Shore Drive Blend
3 Cup Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Lime Juice
2 6 Oz. Salmon Fillets

Directions
Place salmon fillets into a Ziploc bag and pour 3/4 of the mixture over the fillets, seal bag and place in fridge.
Reserve about 1/4 of the mixture to use for basting the salmon during baking/grilling to keep it moist.

Mr. Gooch Cooks (Steaks with Sweet Mesquite Marinade)

Mr. Gooch was my hero last night.

I had a early evening meeting so I wasn't going to be able to cook dinner. Mr. Gooch took charge. (I love it when he does that!)

We ended up having steak in a marinade he created, left over pesto pasta from Monday night and his caprese-style salad. Can you say yum? I know I did.

The best part, he even took some photos so that I could post.

Sweet Mesquite Marinade Recipe

Ingredients
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons Vinegar (he used 1 T garlic vinegar and 1 T basamic vinegar)
1 Teaspoon Worchestershire Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sweet Mesquite Marinade (Kirkland Brand)
1 Teaspoon Italina Seasoning (Tastefully Simple brand)
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Rosemary

Directions

Combine all ingredients and place in ziploc with steaks.

Marinade for at least 4 hours.

Once meat is done marinating, you can use leftovers to keep steak moist during grilling.

Mr. Gooch Cooks (Chicken and Peppers Marinated in Spicy Chipotle Tabasco Marinade)

Mr. Gooch was in charge of dinner this evening. He made one of his specialties - chicken and peppers marinated in Spicy Chipotle Tabasco Marinade. These are one of my favorites, let me tell you.

Marinade Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup TABASCO® brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce
1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:
Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; stir in garlic and cook 15 seconds or until garlic releases its fragrance. Remove from heat to cool slightly, then stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Set aside 1/2 cup marinade to serve at the table. Use remainder to marinate* poultry, meat, or seafood before grilling; discard used marinade.
We usually cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and marinade overnight for best flavor. We then add the cut peppers to the marinade about 2 hours before cooking.

To cook the chicken and peppers, we place in kebob baskets for grilling using medium-high heat and cooking until done.

I will often make a taco/fajita out of them using low-cal/high fiber/great tasting tortilla from Tortilla Factory. For those doing Weight Watchers, the point value on these is 0 points (score!)