Ginger-Mint Marinade with a Twist of Apricot

Tonight I tried out a new recipe, tweaking it a bit as always. I've had it written out in my album recipe book for a long time and I'm not sure where I originally got it. A magazine, perhaps?

• Beef or chicken (I used steak tonight since we didn't have good beef to cube for kebabs)
• About a cup of fresh mint
• About a cup of apricot jam
• An inch and a half to two inches of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• Two tablespoon of soy sauce
• 6-8 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled 
• 1/2 cup water
• Sriracha sauce to taste
• 1/2 cup brandy

I mixed everything together (except the meat) in my grinder, adding in a generous amount of sriracha. Then I popped the steaks in a Ziploc,  poured the marinade in, and left them for seven hours. (I meant to do 24 but didn't get around to it last night. The meat still turned out wonderfully flavourful.)

It was really simple to throw together and tasted wonderful at the end. Andrew grilled the steaks and I used the leftover marinade to make into a sauce for the steak itself by bringing it to a boil before serving it. We had it with fresh green beans and baked potatoes and the sauce went great over both the meat and the potatoes.

The original recipe used peach jam instead of apricot (I only had apricot on hand), no brandy, no sriracha, and called for 2lbs of lamb, serving it with grilled tomatoes, peppers, and onions. I modified the recipe for what I had on hand without a store run and doubled some of the ingredients (the mint, ginger, soy, and garlic). (Well, actually, I quadrupled the garlic.)

All in all, it was a fantastic meal and easy to put together.