Make Mine Brine

Since it's hot again, I find myself thinking of ways to seriously cut down time in the kitchen. One of the cooler ways to deal with meat is brining. This way the salt and marinade do some of the cooking work for you. I'll put up three recipes here - a Cuban inspired one for chicken, a Nordic one for salmon and my prize-winner for beef.

Chicken Café Cubano

1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 cups water
4 sliced limes
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard seeds, toasted if preferred
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3/4 cup Café Bustelo, hot
4 boneless skinless kosher chicken breasts or thighs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Combine the ingredients for brining, except coffee and cilantro, in a saucepan, heat until sugar and salt dissolve pour into a large glass or enamel bowl, stir in hot coffee and chopped cilantro, refrigerate until cool. Add chicken pieces and use a small plate or weight to keep it submerged 2-3 hours.
Heat grill to high. Remove chicken from brine, blot nearly dry with paper towels, and brush with oil on both sides. Grill 4-8 minutes, moving halfway if you want grill marks. Turn over and grill 4-6 minutes more
Great with Corn Salsa

Lightly Brined Salmon

This is an amazingly easy recipe - similar to making gravlax. It just takes time, not a great deal of skill. If you'd like to follow an old tradition from Northern Sweden, you can wipe the clean salmon pieces or filets with vodka or brännvin.

2 lbs Salmon - either pieces from the tail or mid-section or whole small salmon
4 tblsp salt
4 tblsp sugar

Filet the salmon or the pieces and divide in half. Spread the salt/sugar mixture between the filets or pieces and place in a ziplock bag in a glass pan with a weight. Let stand in the refrigerator. Small pieces will require about 24 hrs - larger pieces up to 48 hrs. After that time pour off any liquid which has been produced. You can keep the fish in the fridge up to one week and up to two months in the freezer. The salmon is excellent in salads or sandwiches. Typically served with potato salad.

Brined Steak - Gravad Filé

This is a variant of a brining recipe that I won a prize for many years ago in a national competition. Choose any cut you like - a skirt steak works well - like the French ongelet or any of the kosher "sirloins" Don't make this with a tough cut, unless you are going to slow cook it afterwards. You can vary the size of the meat as long as you keep the brining liquid enough to cover the meat by at least an inch.

1 lb. kosher beef - cut according to your choice

2 cups corn or olive oil
1 cup dark soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp lemon-pepper mix
2 tsp ground black or pink pepper
1 tbsp dried tarragon
3 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
2 tbsp sugar or honey

Brine the meat in ziplock bag or in a shallow glass pan with a weight. Turn after 24 hrs - should marinate for at least 48 hours, and you can keep it in the brining liquid, turning daily, for up to 72 hrs. The meat will become quite "cooked" from the brining, and is sometimes eaten sliced very thin right out of the brine. Other ideas are to quickly grill the larger pieces or flash-fry smaller slices.


Remember All brining might have some risk involved, particularly if your utensils are not scrupulously clean and if you aren't careful to keep the brining very well chilled in the refrigerator. Brining is one of the oldest methods of preserving meat that we know of, and has been eaten healthily for years. If you are worried, be very certain to cook the brined meat thoroughly.