By Labor Day weekend. The summer people are leaving Vermont, the roads quiet again in that specific way, the village returning to itself. I grilled for the holiday: ribs on the grill with a dry rub and low heat for three hours, the way I've been doing it for years, until the meat falls off in the way it should. Ted Marchand came over for dinner — his first time at the table rather than at the fence line since the pandemic began, which felt significant. We ate outside. The evening was still warm. We talked about our gardens and what we were going to plant next year.
The fall crops are in: the kale and chard and spinach and lettuce for the fall harvest, planted in August's last weeks and now up and growing in the September cool. Kale that grows in the fall, with cold nights to develop it, is a different vegetable than kale in June. It sweetens. It gets depth. By October it will be extraordinary.
I've been thinking about writing more this fall. The blog has been running for three years now, longer than I expected when I started it, and the readership is real and responsive in a way that continues to surprise me. People finding something in a widower's farm notes from Vermont. A man in New South Wales wrote last week to say he read every post. I wrote back. We've exchanged two letters now.
The tomatoes are slowing. The plants look tired after their summer of production, the leaves beginning to yellow. A few more weeks and I'll pull them. But right now there are still enough for fresh eating every day, which is the last stretch of the best season.
The ribs I made for Ted that evening didn’t need much explaining — three hours over low heat does the talking. But the marinade is where it starts, and this teriyaki beef marinade has become the base I return to when a meal needs to feel like something more than supper. After a summer of fence-line waves and pandemic distance, I wanted Ted’s first real dinner here to taste like it was worth the wait. It was.
Teriyaki Beef Marinade
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes (marinade) | Total Time: 10 minutes + 4–24 hours marinating | Servings: 4–6
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced (for finishing)
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (for finishing)
Instructions
- Combine the base. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Worcestershire sauce, and honey until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Add aromatics. Stir in the minced garlic, grated ginger, and black pepper. Taste and adjust — add a touch more honey for sweetness or soy sauce for salt.
- Marinate the beef. Place your beef ribs or cuts in a large zip-lock bag or shallow dish. Pour the marinade over the meat, turning to coat thoroughly. Seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight for best results.
- Prepare for the grill. Remove the beef from the marinade and allow it to come closer to room temperature, about 20–30 minutes, before grilling. Reserve the marinade if you intend to baste.
- Grill low and slow. Grill over indirect, low heat — ideally 225–250°F — for 2.5 to 3 hours, turning and basting with reserved marinade in the final 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and pulls cleanly from the bone.
- Finish and rest. Remove from the grill and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Scatter green onions and sesame seeds over the top.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 1,340mg