Serves: 5

By soaking food in a marinade, or seasoned liquid, you’ll add flavor to foods or tenderize less-tender cuts of meat such as round steak. Marinating is especially tasty for grilled or broiled meats and vegetables. And it’s easy to do, with little fuss and with great results.

- For mixing and marinating, use glass or plastic containers or heavy plastic food-storage bags. Glass and plastic won’t react with the acid, such as vinegar, wine or lemon juice, in the marinade. It’s best not to use earthenware containers because they’re porous and the marinade may seep into the pottery.
- Use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup marinade for each 1 to 2 pounds of meat, poultry, fish or vegetables.
- Marinate food, covered, in the refrigerator-not at room temperature-and turn the food occasionally.
- The marinade will soak about 1/4 inch into the food. For more flavor, you can marinate from 15 minutes to 2 hours or longer. If you’re tenderizing meat, marinate it for up to 24 hours. If marinated longer than 24 hours, the texture of the meat may become mushy.
- To avoid bacterial contamination, never serve cooked meat on the same unwashed platter used to carry raw marinated meat to the oven or grill.
- If you want to use the same marinade that raw meat, poultry or fish has been marinating in as a sauce, you need to cook it first. To avoid bacterial contamination, you must heat it to a rolling boil and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, before serving.

From "Betty Crocker's Complete Cookbook, Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today, 9th Edition." Text Copyright 2000 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More Recipes from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook, 9th Edition Cookbook:
Apple Butter
Blueberry Freezer Jam
Brown Sauce
CONDIMENT BASICS
COOKING WITH SPICES AND SEEDS
Corn Relish
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry-Orange Relish
Cream Cheese Spreads
Creamy Herb-Mushroom Sauce
Cucumbers and Tomatoes in Yogurt
Fajita Marinade
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Garlic Marinade
Golden Fruit Chutney
HERB CHART
Herb Vinegar
Herbed Butter Sauce
Herbed Oil
Hollandaise Sauce
Italian Tomato Sauce
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
Lemon Curd
Lemon-Herb Marinade
Pan Gravy
Peanut Sauce
Pesto
Prune-Almond Sauce
SAUCE BASICS
SEASONING BASICS
SEASONING CHART
SEASONINGS
SEED CHART
SPICE CHART
Savory Butters
Southwestern Rub
Strawberry Freezer Jam
Sweet Butters
Sweet-and-Sour Sauce
TIPS FOR MARINADES AND MARINATING
Tartar Sauce
Teriyaki Marinade
Teriyaki Sauce
Tomato Salsa
Using Herbed Oil
Velouté Sauce
Whipped Horseradish
White Sauce