Marinade, Marinate, Macerate, Oh, Behave!

Will work for beer!

I am definitely NOT a techie, so although I started this blog and figured out the basics,  what I  really needed was someone with "techno-sperience".  Fortunately, I have a great friend, Arvind Puri, who is my favorite techie and was easily bribed with a meal and beer in exchange for some advice. What to make? My favorite marinade is super easy and delicious. I use it on shrimp or chicken.

When ever possible, I will give measurements, but what I like about cooking as opposed to baking is the lack of precision. I just add the amounts until it "tastes right". What's tasty to my palate, might not be to yours.

Marinade
Olive oil 1/4 to 1/2 c. depending on how much meat you're marinating
Juice of a lemon
Garlic...1 or 2 cloves...(or more if you're not planning on kissing anyone), crushed.
Oregano, thyme and rosemary  fresh or dried (finely chopped if you're using fresh,-remember with rosemary, a little goes a long way!)
Kosher* salt and pepper
I whisk it all together and then just stick my finger in to taste until it tastes "right".(don't worry, I wash between tastes!)
If my cheeks pucker, I add more olive oil.

*Snob note about kosher salt. Buy some, it's cheap. Use the Morton's for baking! Keep it in a little ramekin next to your stove.These three terms are often confused.  Essentially,  marinade is a noun and marinate is a verb. You marinate the meat in a marinade. The basic idea of a marinade is to tenderize a tough cut of meat or just give it flavor. The amount of time you marinate  meat generally depends on what you're marinating. Shrimp or fish are marinated for just an hour or so, chicken over-night, beef can be marninated a little longer. As long as you have something acidic, like wine, citrus or vinegar you can make a marinade out of just about anything.

The term "macerate" is applied more to fruit and the term "infused" would give you a good idea of what macerating does. You can macerate fruit in alcohol and sugar, herbs (lavendar, mint), to infuse the fruit with flavor and throw it on top of ice cream for an elegant dinner party desert.