One thread, add water and salt, bring to a boil, then simmer

[Jamie Bond]

I don't understand this crazy moon language!

[Koreth]

Well, the lemon flavor was already noticeable but in a good way, so I'm not sure I'd want to make it any stronger as I wouldn't want it to be overpowering. I'll definitely experiment with lemon zest and coriander.

My father recently picked up a big bottle of store brand balsamic vinegar, and I was thinking about making a kinda Italian marinade for the grilled chicken tomorrow night.

I was thinking balsamic vinegar, olive oil, red onion, garlic, basil, parsley, oregano (all fresh of course) black pepper and some kosher salt, but was uncertain of how much to use. If I had to guess, I would say,

1 cup olive oil,
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup fresh copped onion
4 cloves garlic cut up real small (chopped? minced?)
1 Tbsp fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano.
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp kosher salt.

But honestly, those numbers are guesses. Something doesn't seem right about the amount of herbs in relation to the other ingredients. Anyway, your thoughts?

[Mae Dean]

Ingredients sound good - but boost the herbs. by a LOT. Generally, it's best to do these things by weight, but since you're making ~2 cups of marinade, you'll probably want about 1/4 cup of herbs total. And that MIGHT wind up being too much salt and pepper - I'd say about 2 tsp of each. I would ALSO recommend adding more balsamic than oil. The oil is going to do very little to flavor the meat, and you're just going to have the same separation problems as you had with the other one. drop it to 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of oil, and add about a tablespoon of dijon mustard as an emulsifier. (Unless you took my advice and bought some Xanthan gum)

Rest of it looks good - mince the garlic, and honestly, mince the onion as best you can too. The more surface area they have, the more flavor you're going to get. And mince up those herbs real good, too. And while italian parsley is good, you might want to add fresh thyme to the mix, or replace it with the thyme... parsley is a very mild flavor.

[ampersand]

So...the whole Emeril thing about adding more herbs, garlic, hot sauce and other spices because he likes such herbages (and fat too, apparently) isn't just a gimmick?

[Mae Dean]

While I hate Emeril, it's hard to have too many herbs. Too few, though, and you're not going to taste them at all - especially in a marinade. ON the food is a different matter, but if you're going to have any herb flavor in the marinade at all, you have to add a bunch.

As for the garlic and hot sauce, you CAN have too much. When it starts to taste more like garlic than the flavor you're going for, you've added too much garlic. And hot sauce is just a gimmick in cooking anyway. Heat masks flavor. Simple as that.

[Koreth]

Well, the chicken is now marinading in the fridge. Regarding the xanthan gum: Wow. This stuff is freaking awesome, not to mention potent. 1/2 tsp was more than enough, I ended up having to cut the marinade with a bit of water to keep it from becoming too thick. Just as well, though, as there was more chicken than I originally estimated. Finding it was a bit of fun. The store clerks kept thinking I was asking for some kind of candy, and their eyes glazed over when I used the word "emulsifier". The one clerk whose eyes did not glaze over helped me look and he and I found it in the baking aisle amongst the organic gluten-free stuff.

On the herbs, I couldn't find fresh oregano, just the dried stuff, so I ended up adding probably just as much oregano as I did fresh parsley and basil (which has a delicious scent, btw) I estimate I used about 1/2 cup of herbs, at a 2:1:1 ratio of oregano, basil and parsley. The parsley was also the curly kind instead of the flat-leaf kind, I don't know if that has any significant effect on the flavor I was going for, but I'm not terribly worried. I also added some thyme too. I upped the garlic to 6 cloves as well. I love garlic, and I figured I wasn't in any big danger of the garlic overpowering anything, as I'm using it in a marinade instead of cooking with it directly.

After a couple hours, the chicken will go up on the grill and I'll let you guys know how it came out.

I do have a question regarding herbs. When chopping them up to use in cooking, do I use just the leaves or the stems too, or does it vary from herb to herb?

[Blaze]

While I hate Emeril, it's hard to have too many herbs. Too few, though, and you're not going to taste them at all - especially in a marinade. ON the food is a different matter, but if you're going to have any herb flavor in the marinade at all, you have to add a bunch.

I concur. For the most part, if I'm adding herbs and spices, it's because I want my food to taste like them. I like very flavorful food. Sometimes mild hints are nice, but there usually still needs to be a dominant flavor.

[Mae Dean]

I do have a question regarding herbs. When chopping them up to use in cooking, do I use just the leaves or the stems too, or does it vary from herb to herb?

It KINDA varies from herb to herb, but the general consensus is that the leaves are the good part - so pick 'em off. With many herbs, this is as simple as running your fingers along it and they just pop off - others, like cilanrtro, you kinda have to pick manually.

[Deacon]

<3 Cilantro
<3 Lime