Teriyaki Marinade

Yields: about 2 cups

I had the “best” teriyaki steak I in Hawaii 35 years ago, and I have been trying to duplicate it ever since. Well I think I finally have come as close as I am going to get, with this marinade and I’m glad to share it with you. The marinade can be strained, boiled and thickened slightly and used for a dipping sauce or thickened more and used as a glaze. It’s good for marinating chicken and pork also. Please do NOT substitute the mirin, most large markets have this sweet, rice wine for cooking. It’s a key ingredient.

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup green onion, thinly sliced on a diagonal
1/4 cup sake
1/4cup mirin
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. dry Chinese mustard
1/4 tsp coarse-ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until all the sugars are dissolved.

Chef’s Notes: Put the marinade in a large zip lock bag, add the steaks, seal and refrigerate over night, then grill on a hot BBQ. Chicken and pork don’t need to marinade as long, maybe 2-6 hours respectively.

Yields enough for 2 steaks, a whole cut up chicken or a couple pork tenderloins.

Cocktail Rye Encrusted Pork Chops

Serves 6

Center cut pork chops are the meat of choice for our Octoberfest. Buy the normal thickness cut, not the thick cut for this, they’ll cook quicker and the coating won’t get too dark. Use your favorite rye bread, I used little cocktail rye slices and they made great crumbs. The mustard of choice should be a good granny German style, not common yellow. Sorry French’s.

6 center cut pork chops
12 slices cocktail rye slices
6 tsp. mustard
canola oil for frying

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees. Place half of the rye slices in a food processor and process to fine bread crumbs, remove to a flat bottomed dish or bowl and repeat with remaining slices. Make 3 or 4 quarter inch slashes on the outer edge of each chop, so that it will stay flat when cooking, sharp kitchen or poltry shears work well for this. Rub each chop all over with one teaspoon of mustard. Coat each chop on both sides in bread crumbs and set aside in a single layer. Heat about 1/8 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Pan fry half of the chops until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Don’t over cook, 140 degrees on an instant read thermometer will be fine. Remove first batch to oven and repeat with remaining chops.

Serve with Braised Red Cabbage, Beer Boiled Spaetzle an good cold beer.

Beer Boiled Spaetzle

Serves 6

This is the second post of our Octoberfest and beer is the issue here. Use your favorite for the dish and what your going to drink with the meal. It would also be nice if it were German. My choice was Bechs and I drank Dark Becks with the meal.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs
¾ cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1 quart beer
¼ cup melted butter
chopped parsley for garnish

Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl. Mix eggs and milk; stir into flour. Bring beer to boil in a large pot. Place a colander with large holes over boiling beer, pour dough into the colander. Press the dough through the holes with a rubber spatula. Cook and stir until spaetzle floats, about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and toss with melted butter. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Braised Red Cabbage

Serves 6

2 slices thick bacon, cut crosswise into ¼ inch strips
1 med. onion, chopped
1 med. red cabbage, very coarsely chopped
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup beer
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
½ tsp. caraway seeds
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup red current jelly

In a non-reactive pot large enough to hold the cabbage, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve for a later use. Add the onions and sauté until golden. Add the cabbage and apples, then pour in the beer and vinegar. Add the caraway seeds and brown sugar, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and simmer another 20 or 25 minutes, again stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the cabbage is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the jelly until it melts and coats the cabbage.