Rock Cave IGA

Meat-Fish Marinade
1 cup Vinegar (cider vinegar or red wine)
1 cup Vegetable oil
1 cup Soy sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tablespoons oregano leaves
1 tablespoon ground marjoram
1 tablespoon ground thyme
2-3 tablespoons rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 large or 2 small onions, julian sliced

1. Place meat in large zip-lock bag. Add vinegar, oil, soy, worcestershire sauce and onion(s). I typically use red wine instead of vinegar or ½ cup vinegar and ½ cup red wine. If using wine, use the cheap stuff (not so cheap that it has a twist of cap).
2. Add dry ingredients (oregano through garlic powder). The dry ingredients do not have to be exact. The measurements are only guidelines.
3. Close zip-lock bag removing as much air as possible. Place on plate or in container and refrigerate. I usually flip the bag a few times during the marinating process.

Marinade Time Estimates
3-5 lbs flank steak, 24 hours minimum to 36-48 hours maximum
3-5 lbs london broil, top round 18 hours minimum to 36-48 hours maximum
3-5 lbs pork chops, 6 hours minimum to 18 hours maximum
3-5 lbs shark (mako or black tip), 2 hours minimum to 4 hours maximum
3-5 lbs tuna, 2 hours minimum to 4 hours maximum

Notes: I usually only marinade the fish for kabobs. I cut them in to 1 - 1 ½ inch cubes before placing in the marinade. Typically, I do ½ tuna and ½ shark. You can also put the vegetables in the marinade with them (cherry tomatoes, extra onion, green peppers and mushrooms).

In recent taste testing, I have found that I like the flank steak much better than the london broil cut of meat. It cost a little more, but worth it. Either cut is “ok”. For flank steak I usually do 2 pieces of meat for 4-6 people and 1 piece for 2-4 people. Flank steak typically is found in 1 ½ - 2 lb portions. If you are doing a smaller piece of meat, the ingredients can be cut in half. When grilling, I cook at medium-high heat (350-400 deg) direct heat. For flank steak, 3-5 minuets per side and for london broil, 5-7 minuets per side. The meat will be medium to medium rare on the ends and medium rare to rare in the middle. You can always cut the meat in half before grilling if you desire more medium rare vs. rare meat. Slice the meat at a 45-degree angle for serving.

Strawberry-Almond Cream Tart

Crust:
36 honey graham crackers (about 9 sheets)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 teaspoons water
Cooking spray

Filling: ( I double this!!)
2/3 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Topping (I usually mix different berries, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry,..)
6 cups small fresh berries, divided
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare crust, place crackers in a food processor; process until crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, butter, and water; pulse just until moist. Place mixture in a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray, pressing into bottom and up sides of pan to 3/4 inch. Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare filling, combine cream cheese, sugar, and extracts in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of tart shell.
To prepare topping, place 2 cups berries in food processor; process until pureed. Combine berrie puree, 2/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook 1 minute. Remove glaze from heat, and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (to cool quickly, place pan in bowl of ice).

Combine 4 cups berries and juice; toss to coat. Arrange berries, bottoms up, in a circular pattern over filling (be creative, form a cross with the strawberries and fill in around with remaining berries). Spoon half of glaze evenly over berries (reserve remaining glaze for another use). Sprinkle nuts around edge. Chill for 3 hours.
Note: You can use either an 8 x 12-inch rectangular pan or a 9-inch round tart pan. The recipe also works with a 9-inch spring form pan and a 10-inch pie plate.

Yield: 10 servings

Mushroom Pâté
4-6 Portobello Mushroom Caps (~ 3-5 inch diameter)
Salt (if I have it, I use crushed sea salt)
Pepper
Garlic powder
Olive oil
½ - ¼ cup fresh basil
½ - ¾ cup fresh chopped parsley *
½ - 1 cup Parmesan cheese **
Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
Cooking Spray

1. Preheat oven to 325 deg.
2. Wash mushrooms and pat dry. If the mushrooms have long stems, remove them. Place mushrooms on cookie sheet covered with Aluminum foil. Spray with light coat of cooking spray or olive oil.
3. Spray mushrooms with generous coat of olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder on olive coated mushrooms. You can never have to much garlic but to much salt is not a good thing. Place in preheated oven for 20-30 minuets or until mushrooms are limp (the mushrooms will appear limp/soft to the touch and the cap should be full of “mushroom juice”).
4. Wash parsley and remove leaves from stems. Chop/Mince well. There is no such thing as to much parsley.
5. Wash basil and pinch off stems. Chop/Mince well. There is no such thing as to much basil.
6. When mushrooms are done cooking, remove them from the oven and Chop/Mince them and place in container. Combine chopped parsley and basil. Add Parmesan cheese and mix well.
7. Add in mayonnaise until mixture binds together. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

The Mushroom Pâté will keep for 3-5 days. It is good on Steaks, Pork Chops and crackers. It would probable also taste good on Chicken (never tried it). Basically, once you flip the meat, you place the Mushroom Pâté on top of the meat and allow it to melt over the meat while it finishes cooking. It takes at least 8-10 minuets for the Mushroom Pâté to melt over the meat.

* If you can find Organic Italian it is a little more expensive but bigger leaves and easier
to work with.

** Not Kraft. It needs to be good Parmesan Cheese. Not the $11 per pound stuff but in the $5 - $8 dollar range.