Saturday, August 11, 2012

Lucy Burdette's Good Neighbor Marinade

LUCY BURDETTE: Isn't it the luckiest thing in the world when you move near neighbors whom you really enjoy? I must admit that my father took this to its extreme by marrying my childhood next-door-neighbor, after both of their spouses had died.

It was actually lovely to have a stepmother that I'd known for most of my life. In this photo, my mother is at the far left, with her good pal and neighbor and my future stepmother, Mary Jane, right beside her. Don't you love the Easter hats? (I'm right behind the little dude with the chapeau. That's my neighbor's son, Bob, who's now a chef.)

But I have veered way off my subject:). I had a very good neighbor who moved away a couple of years ago. Linda happened to be an excellent  cook. She and her husband loved big barbeques and their grilled meat was always delicious. Like a good neighbor, she shared her recipe for Korean marinade, which could not be easier!

Ingredients
 
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
6 Tablespoons soy sauce

You may also add as you please: coarse black pepper, sliced scallions, fresh garlic, toasted sesame seeds. I usually stick with the basic recipe. 

Measure the ingredients into a large Ziplock bag. Then add the meat of your choice. In this case I chose a pork loin, but it could be pork chops, or chicken breasts, or even a steak. Then refrigerate the meat for two hours or overnight. I've even frozen the loin right in the bag with the marinade and it came out absolutely delicious once thawed and grilled. (We also grilled some chicken sausage for the diners who don't eat red meat.)



Discard marinade prior to cooking. You may wish to make a new batch to serve with the meal.

I would also recommend serving the meat with Perfect Potato Salad, which comes from the Park Avenue Potluck cookbook. You can find that recipe here.

And alongside those dishes, I'd offer a big bowl of lightly steamed green beans with a little melted butter--we have a bumper crop in the garden this year!



And not that I'm counting, but DEATH IN FOUR COURSES will be published in 23 days! The book takes place at the Key West Loves Literature conference, which several years ago focused on food writing. Heaven for food critic Hayley Snow, until she stumbles on a body....

From Publishers Weekly: "Anyone who’s ever overpaid for a pretentious restaurant meal will relish this witty cozy."

To keep up on all the news, please like the Lucy Burdette Facebook fan page, or follow me on Twitter, or best of all, pre-order the book!

5 comments:

  1. Lucy, I love the picture of you and your family and neighbors. Am I mistaken or do you look a lot like your mom?

    Love this marinade, too. I use soy sauce in marinades but not with sesame oil. I bet that really changes the flavor. Must buy some!

    ~ Krista

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  2. Thanks Krista! you know the older I've gotten the more I look like my father with the round face and droopy eyelids:):). Oh well, he passed on a lot of good traits too!

    The sesame oil definitely makes it!

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  3. Aw, Lucy, like a good neighbor...I'm humming a tune. What a fun story and easy recipe to share with good neighbors. Good luck on your new release. I love Hayley!

    ~Avery aka Daryl

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  4. thanks Avery--we have such good neighbors here at MLK too, don't we??

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  5. This would be a great marinade for portobello mushrooms ... must try! Thank you for this.

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