Yogurt marinades?

[Mr_Dove]

I read somewhere that you can use plain yogurt to marinade meats. Can anyone give instruction on this and maybe a specific recipe.

[YT2095]

you can, Tandoori Chicken is a typical use of such a method :)

here, take a peek: Tandoori chicken - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Yakuta]

The live cultures and lactic acid in yogurt helps marinate all types of meat. I use it to tenderize chicken (tandoori chicken recipe was enclosed by the earlier poster), leg of lamb, leg of goat and beef and chicken kabobs).

In order for yogurt to do its magic I recommend an overnight marination. The yogurt adds a very nice tangy touch to the finish dish and keeps the dish very moist.

Here is a leg of lamb recipe I make that uses a yogurt marinade:

Leg of lamb - trim all the fat
3 cups of plain yogurt (greek or middle eastern style is the best but Dannon will work)
Roasted and powdered spices - Corrainder, Cumin, Black Pepper - 3 tbsps
Red Chili powder - to your liking
juice of a 1 lemon
6 cloves of garlic minced
1 small stick of ginger minced
2 large Caramalized crispy onions. You slice the onion thinly and then fry the onions until they are golden brown and crisp, remove it and then crumble them with your hands.
1/2 cup of freshly chopped cilantro
1/2 cup of freshly chopped mint

Mix everything in the leg of lamb in an oven proof pan (foil ones work fine). Let it marinate overnight. In the morning, place the pan in the oven. Let it cook until the lamb is fully cooked.

Remove the leg and place it on a platter. Strain and reduce the cooking liquid until it's nice and thick. Pour it over the leg of lamb. Garnish with more freshly chopped cilantro, mint and slices of lemon and serve.

[college_cook]

I think the yogurt tenderizes much better than it carries flavor into your meats. We do a tandoori chicken springroll app at the resto, marinated in yogurt, curry, cumin, and garlic. The chicken always comes out moist and tender, with a bit of tang, but never really picks up that curry or cumin flavor. The flavor is in the finished product b/c of the residual marinade that gets cooked onto the meat, but it's more like a yogurt sauce over chicken rather than an actual marinade.

[bknox]

We make skewered Chicken that is marinated in yogurt. I do not have exact measurements but is roughly;

1 cup plain yogurt
1 fat pinch oregano
1 Tablespoon Lime juice
1 teaspoon red pepper flake

Marinate your skewered chicken for about 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge before grilling.

Enjoy,
Bryan

[Hoogey]

Will red wine kill the live cultures of the yogurt if used in a marinade?

[buckytom]

yes, but they go out with a really great party, hoogey!

just kidding, i really don't know about the wine.

but, it isn't the lactic acid in dairy products that does the tenderizing. current theories suggest that there's enzymes in milk that help tenderize. also, calcium may help enzymes already present in the meat become active. finally, many dairy based tenderizing marinades have other ingredients which containg tenderizing enzymes.

it's all about the enzymes, man...