Monday was the kids first day back at school and everyone was sure to come home tired and hungry, which meant Quick & Easy was on our dinner menu (that’s code for re-claiming my house and putting it back together now the kids are back at school, so I don’t have a lot of time to think about dinner). The girls wanted Tacos, the boys didn’t really care, and I wanted steak and salad, so I found this recipe for Mojo Marinade and we compromised by having Soft Tacos.
What I love about meats in marinades is you can pre-prep your meals in the morning, or even the night before by making your marinade, and placing it in a freezer bag with your meat/chicken and it can just sit in your fridge doing all the hard work for you while you go about your day. The longer it marinates the more flavour you will have. Then you can come home, throw together a salad or some stir-fry veges and rice, and you have an impressive meal, full of flavour that took you literally minutes to make.
Here’s how I marinate my meats:
By placing the meat in a freezer bag it allows the meat to swim in the flavours of your marinade and all you have to do is turn it once or twice to make sure both sides have the opportunity to soak up the flavours.
And with winter peeking it’s head around the corner here in Australia I’m making the most of summer time meals. Here’s Miss 9’s soft taco creation:
Simple and healthy! Just the way I like it.
Mojo Marinade
Ingredients:
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Jalapeno Chilli, minced
1 Large Handful Flat Leaf Parsley, finely chopped
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
2 Limes, juiced
1 Orange, juiced
2 Tbl White Vinegar
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
Directions:
Combine the garlic, chilli, parsley, salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle and grind away until you have a paste. Have no doubts, it may not look like it is going to form a paste, but it will happen, you just have to really mash it all together.
Add the juice from the limes and the orange, followed by the olive oil and give it a really good stir to combine. You could put it all in a jar and give it a good shake, but why make more washing up?
Place your meat in a freezer bag and pour your marinade over the meat.
Seal the bag and massage the marinade into the meat making sure all sides are coated. I love doing this while it is in the bag because I don’t end up with oily, garlicy hands. Place in a tray and pop it into the fridge to marinate, turning every time you think of it.
When you are ready to eat, remove the meat from the bag and cook to your liking.
This recipe is perfect for the BBQ.
Notes: Placing the bag in a tray eliminates any mess if your bag has a pin prick hole in it and leaks.
Marinate for at least one hour, but no more than 8 hours. If you marinate for longer than 8 hours the fibres in the meat break down too much and you will end up with mushy meat.
Source of Original Recipe: Tyler Florence, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/tacos-carne-asada-recipe/index.html