It's time to get sauced, creating (or buying) the right marinade to enhance your grilling efforts. From veggies to ribs, here are some of our favorite marinating mixtures...

Guinness Pork Marinade
 
Deep in the heart of Guinness' storied 1759 Society (requires a membership -- join immediately!) website lies a wonderfully humorous marinade for Chicken. Upon emptying every packet of soy sauce in the house I still didn't have enough for the recipe. I added pineapple juice to fill in the gap and a couple more cloves of garlic to additional flavor. For the pork version, I've added a half up of brown sugar to the marinade for some additional sweetness.
 
Ingredients
• 12 oz bottle Guinness Draught
• 6 oz can Pineapple Juice
• 6 oz Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (pack it tight)
• 3 garlic cloves - minced
• 1 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
• 10 shakes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 8 pork loin loin chops (3/4 inch thick)
 
 
The Work
In a large bowl whisk together the Guinness, Pineapple Juice and Soy Sauce. Careful opening up the Guinness. It'll need to be poured within seconds of opening to prevent a gusher from the bottle. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until ingredients are well blended.
 
Take a fork to the pork and poke a bunch of holes in them to let the marinade sink in. In large ziploc bag (2.5 gallon) add the pork and marinade. Get as much air out of the bag as possible, seal and send to the fridge for an overnight sleep. Turn every 4 hours.
 
Additional Notes:
This is a great way to add smooth flavors to your Pork and keep the meat moist during the grilling process, provided you can keep enough of the brown stuff around... hint: watch out for your brother. Your beer pours will not be graded, but keep in mind that Guinness can and will stain clothes. Just look at how the Pork changes color after marinating. Wear old clothes and shoes!

To learn more about the history, recipe and process of brewing the old black magic, click here



Doc's Jack Daniel's Marinade
From Diana Rattray,
Your Guide to Southern U.S. Cuisine.

INGREDIENTS:
• 1 cup Jack Daniels Sour mash whiskey
• 1/2 cup peanut oil
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup Heinz ketchup
• 2 tablespoons nutmeg ground fresh
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
• 1/4 cup molasses or honey
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice fresh only
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cloves ground

PREPARATION:
Mix all liquid ingredients together in a sauce pan over med-heat. Add dry ingredients and continue to stir for 1-min. Reduce heat to Simmer for 5-mins., then remove from heat. Pour over meats, poultry, or mushrooms, cover, and then refrigerate for 4-24 hours.

Use as a basting sauce or as a dipping sauce.

Wine Spectator Online

SeaBear Smokehouse

100 wines rated 90 pts plus. 
All under $20 

50 States of Cheese 

John Raven dishes up Tejas like crazy at texascooking.com
One of our recent favorite reads came on an extended web hunt for marinades. We didn't have to go far, geographically, as one of the kings is right here in Texas. John Raven (he carries the professional designation of Ph.B) is a contributing writer for TexasCooking.com, and is well known for his Barbecue 101 series and his Ask Dr. John Q&A column. Texas Cooking is pretty dern entertaining too, covering everything from Grandma's Cookbook, to sections on seafood, dessert and around the bar. There's an alphabetical index of recipes too, so your visit will be a long one. We think that's just what we were after all along.

His essay on marinades goes into plenty of detail to arrive at great sauces for beef, chicken and fish. See his marinade article here.

"Parisi, a chef and writer for Food & Wine magazine, goes far beyond garden variety ketchup- and barbecue-based sauces in this compendium of flavorful recipes. Though she includes versions of those too, the bulk of her book is taken up by more unusual vinaigrettes, pestos and dessert sauces."
Publishers Weekly

Grace Parisi takes her inspiration from all over the world, (she's also the author of a fabulous book on pasta, Summer, Winter Pastas) showing that the French don't have a monopoly on inspired flavor combinations.

On a two-page spread, recipes for marinades from Turkey, Tuscany, Vietnam and Latin America appear, all giving simple takes on ways to spice up various meats. Most of the ingredients are readily available, with the exception of a few Middle Eastern and Asian specialty items, and the instructions are easy to follow, though they do require some cooking knowledge, particularly for main-dish recipes like Turkey with Roasted Shallot-Teriyaki Gravy.

Parisi introduces each recipe with a short note about appropriate ways to serve the sauce or tips on preparation; other helpful hints pop up in boxes throughout, addressing such dilemmas as how to keep gravy warm and lump-free or how best to freeze pesto.

Cooks who want to take their meals to another level without learning a whole new repertoire of full-fledged dishes will find this book to be a great resource.