Birthday’s and Brazilian-Style Steak Marinade
Today is my beloved’s 14th Anniversary of her 29th birthday! Which means:
- We are rapidly approaching our marriage half life. i.e. We will have been married for longer than we were alive before we met. I know, we are getting older.
- I wanted to share with you a fantastic marinade that I am using to cook for her on her birthday dinner tonight.
Brazilian Steak Marinade | Photo Credit Stuart Spivack
I married well, and one of my Wife’s favorite dinners is a delicious cooked steak. I have spoken how Cindy loved a well cooked steak before I liberated her. Now, a medium-rare steak is the temperature of choice. We have made a lot of stops in our culinary journey together – and we are in totally in love with the South American, specifically an Argentinean style of cooking called Churrasco.
Churrasco Bazilian Steak Marinade | Photo Courtesy of Afrank99
Let’s face it. We have all been to those Brazilian Steak Houses where the waiters (Gouchos) come around and slice off a wonderfully marinated and cooked steak. I being a cheap, well frugal that’s right, frugal that’s what we will call it – I just didn’t want to spend the extra money. True to the quality of my beloved, she prefers the home cooked version as our dollar goes further and who doesn’t love that? Well, maybe the Brazilian Steak Houses don’t.
I think you can personally credit both Brazil and Argentina for this style of cookery, and I would like to personally thank them for my indoctrination to this style of food.
Technically, in Brazil churrasco is the term for barbecue. In Argentina it refers to any boneless cut of beef that is sliced thin after being cooked over hot coals or on a very hot skillet.
When making this marinade, make sure to make extra as you can reserve it and make a dipping sauce that is crazy good!
- 3 heads garlic (about 30-40 cloves)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup onion, minced
- 1 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 2 pounds flank steak
- Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic, salt and peppercorns into a paste. Stir in the the juices, onion and oregano. Allow this mixture to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. After this 30 minutes whisk in this mixture with the olive oil until well combined.
- Place the steak in a large Ziploc bag and place enough marinade to cover the meat. Place the bag in a 9x13 baking dish (to avoid cleanup) and place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours to 24 hours.
- After marinating time, remove the steak and pat dry with kitchen paper. Grill the marinated meat our doors on the barbecue.
