Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge Coca-Cola fan. I’m trying to do something about that but that’s another story for another day.

It’s fizzy. It’s sugary. It’s absolutely divine.

So . . . even I never thought of using good ‘ol Coke as a steak marinade. Who wouldda thunk?

Check this out from our friends at Chow.com:

HOME COOKING: Wacky but Wonderful Marinade for Steaks

From the sounds-awful-but-is-really-good files: Marinate tougher cuts of steak in equal parts Italian salad dressing, ketchup, and Coca-Cola.

From the sounds-awful-but-is-really-good files: [one reader] loves to marinate tougher cuts of steak in equal parts Italian salad dressing, ketchup, and Coca-Cola. He lets the steak soak in this mixture all day before grilling. [Another reader] tried it out, and says it’s both delicious and helps tenderize the meat (the latter’s due to the phosphoric acid in the Coke). She likes a little less Coke relative to the dressing and ketchup, and the addition of some Tabasco.

You can take a look at the entire article here. And have a Coke for me!

This one I never would have thought of myself in a million years . . . pickle juice as a steak marinade.

It’s so simple it’s genius!

Here’s the lowdown from a really good blog post in Cleveland:

Brush on some pickle juice for a sweet splash of flavor

It makes me cringe [to] think of marinating a steak. Why put my hard-earned money into a piece of meat you’re going to slather with a marinade, a rub, or — heaven forbid — ketchup or A1? But I will admit that adding a little flavor to the beef is suitable.

Maybe it sounds odd, but a light brushing of sweet pickle juice during the last part of grilling a steak is a favorite in our house. The family picks are Sechler’s Sweet Orange Strip pickle juice or Vlasic’s Sweet Gherkin pickle juice. It’s a quick way to add flavor without losing the natural taste of the meat.

Before grilling, we put a little olive oil on the steaks, to keep them from sticking to the grill. Then we center them on a hot charcoal grill for two or three minutes on each side, to sear in the juices. Then, after moving the steaks to the side of the grill for slower cooking, we brush pickle juice onto the steaks.

When cooked, they still taste like beef, with a slightly sweet taste. Yum!

— Brenda Junkin

You can read this and other “sweet” ideas here:

http://blog.cleveland.com/lifestyles/2008/06/mushroom_council_steak_is_deli.html

It’s always interesting to create a dish with ingredients you don’t use on an everyday basis. It really kicks things up a notch.

We tried a recipe for Miso Ginger Ribeye that was absolutely to die for!

Miso is a really flavorful Japanese food you can use to make sauce. There are a number of varieties of miso and we chose red miso this time. It works great with steak.

Normally, miso can only be found in specialty food stores. So if you can’t find miso you can substitute hoisin, which is usually easier to find.

If you want to expand your mind, click here for Wikipedia’s full description of miso.

For our recipe, we started with some gorgeous ribeyes.

Then we added the miso ginger sauce mixture.

And after some masterful grilling, here’s what it looks like when it was ready to serve.

Is that gorgeous or what?

Here’s the recipe. Let me know YOUR thoughts when you make it!

Miso Ginger Ribeye
(Serves 4)

4 10 oz. Ribeye Steaks
2 Tbsp. Fresh Ginger, minced
3 Tbsp. Red Miso
2 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 tsp. Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Chile Sesame Oil

Combine ginger, miso, soy, honey, sesame oil and garlic in a bowl and stir until a smooth paste is formed. Spread mixture evenly on both sides of Ribeyes and let sit 4 hours or overnight. Grill steaks to desired doneness (about six minutes per side for medium, rotating a quarter turn every three minutes to create the cross hatch grill marks.)