Churrasco (Argentine Grilled Meat Marinade )

Nif's Note:

This is a marinade for the churrasco dish. In Argentina, where this style of cooking developed, "churrasco" actually refers to many types of meats prepared on the grill. It's also popular with Nicaraguans. The churrasco cut steak is a long flat cut of skirt steak, cut from the "plate" of the cow. You might find it sold at some butcher shops as a "plate" steak. Don't confuse it with the flank steak, a similar cut, but NOT the same! The churrasco steak is typically marinated to make it tender and full of flavour. Serve topped with Chimichurri (Argentine Parsley-Garlic Sauce for Grilled Meats). I did not include marinating time. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3 cups

• 3 heads garlic (about 30 to 40 cloves)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup onion, minced
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 cup Spanish olive oil
• meat, of choice pounded or cut thin (beef, chicken, pork)

Directions:

1. Mash garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, onion, and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer. Whisk the garlic-orange juice mixture with the olive oil until well blended.
2. Preparing the Meat: Preparing the meat is very easy. Place the meat in a large bowl or pan. Add enough marinade to cover the meat. Place a cover over the bowl or pan and place in the refrigerator a minimum of five hours, but preferably overnight.
3. Grill the marinated meat outdoors on the barbecue. (Make sure your coals are hot and white!). For the steak - you can cook them however you like your it -- from rare to well done. However, the rarer the meat, the more tender and flavorful!
4. Serve the meat with the Chimichurri (Argentine Parsley-Garlic Sauce for Grilled Meats).

Reviews

[stgmngrjan]

I used flat iron steaks, similar to flank steak. I marinated the beef chunks for 24 hours, grilling as kabobs. It was wonderful. Thanks, Jan.

[Andi of Longmeadow Farm]

Great marinade! Loved all the flavors and it took my skirt steak and made a pillow full of love with it, nice and tender it was, and oh so good! Reduced the serving size, but otherwise followed exactly. Loved the peppercorns! Added quite a few...Thanks for posting! Made for ZWT7

[lazyme]

Nice marinade. I made about 1 cup of it and marinated my steak overnight. I loved all of the citrus flavors. Thanks Nif for another great keeper. Served with yams, a corn salad, and some chimichurri on the side. Made for ZWT7 for the Emerald City Shakers.