Go-to Marinade Recipe

How to make it

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• I use a mini chopper (like a bullet) for this recipe but you could use a small food processor or a mortar and pestle. I'll give directions for both the chopper and the mortar. I also have a little coffee grinder that I keep just for spices and this is what I used to grind my pepper for this recipe before I add it to the chopper.
• If you are using the electric chopper then just dump all the ingredients in the container and pulse to blend several times till the garlic is chopped fine and everything is mixed well.
• If you don't have the electrical gadgets then get a mortar and pestle-they are quite reasonable in price and are very handy for many recipes. I put the garlic and the salt into the mortar and then crush it with the pestle till it is a paste, next add the peppercorns-you can add them whole and continue to crush/pound till the pepperscorns break up although they won't be as fine as if you used the coffee grinder. Once you have this done then you can add the remaining ingredients and blend together.
• Regardless of which method you used scrape the contents over the chicken or whatever it is that you want to cook, I usually use a zip lock bag put the chicken or pork in, pour the marinade over, eliminate the air and close the bag then massage the marinade into the meat. Place it in the fridge for 2 hours or more, up to overnight. If leaving longer than a couple of hours then give it a little rub and turn the bag over if you happen to remember.
• I gave a range for the vinegar and oil to make a looser marinade if you like it that way or you have a larger quantity of meat to marinade. I have also made the larger amount and then only used half of it and kept the other half in the fridge for a week or so.
• We use a very hot grill to start and brown the meat and then lower the heat and cook till it's done. For a pork tenderloin the total grilling time would be about 15-30 minutes. I usually aim for 145 degrees on the meat thermometer. Depending on the heat of your grill this can take up to 30 minutes.Our local grocery store sells the pork tenderloins in packs of two and we usually remove one of the tenderloins from the grill when the temp reaches 130 and save this one for a stir-fry a couple of days later. I do this because there are just the two of us now - I take it off so that it doesn't become overcooked when I cook it again.