Chimichurri

I’m going to tell you a story about chimichurri. Except I don’t know anything about it at all. Never even heard of it until Brett decided he wanted to make it.  So. Let’s have wikipedia tell us a story about chimichurri. Well. Apparently it is a sauce for meat, originating in Argentina, but also found in Uruguay, Nicaragua, Columbia, and Mexico. We ate it. Here in Hawaii. So now it’s come really far. And you know what, it was delicious. So I’m going to go ahead and insist that you try it, wherever you are, in which case the humble sauce of Argentina will travel the entire world. Wouldn’t that be thrilling?  I have no idea if this is actually a humble sauce. But it’s a delicious one.

You know what else is cool? It turns your meat green. Which, if you, like we, bring it to share at a BBQ, well it just might turn some people off with its hue. Which means you don’t have to share all that much at all. Not because you didn’t try or anything. Double win.

It also inspired me to try and make some kind of Green Eggs and Ham joke. But it’s green steak. So I kind of got stumped. Green steak and eggs? Eggs and green steak, I really like them.. Jake? Meh. Doesn’t work as well. But luckily, this sauce is delicious, and I could easily see it used in other ways too. Like over pasta. Or even over eggs with tortillas.. which would make for green eggs..which you could eat with ham. And tell your friend Sam how you’ve changed your mind, and really DO like green eggs and ham. Wow. I’ve gotten away from my point here. The point is: This is a meat marinade, and it will make your meat delicious. So try it.

*I originally wrote this post for the Magic Bullet Blog. Check it out over there too!*

Chimichurri (adapted from Bobby Flay of Food Network)

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh oregano leaves
• 1/2 cup canola  or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar (original calls for red; we didn’t have any, use whatever you got. except maybe balsamic I don’t think that would work out as well.)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 8 cloves garlic
• A big ol’ steak. I don’t know much about steak. Brett does the meat buying and most of the meat cooking in this house. Bobby Flay uses skirt steak. We used..aw crap I can’t remember. Loin? Flank? geez who knows. Use whatever steak you like. Use chicken or pork if you like those better. It’s your mouth that’s gonna be eating this, after all. Sauce is enough for at least a pound and a half of meat, if not more.

Procedure

1. Stick everything except your steak (doy) into a blender or food processor. Blend. Boom.
2. Season your meat with salt and pepper and then place it in a plastic bag or a baking dish (however you prefer to marinade). Pour over your sauce and toss and turn the meat to coat. Let this marinate in the fridge for at least an hour or two, and up to overnight.  (if you want, save some extra sauce on the side for dipping later..)
3. Before grilling, let your meat come to room temperature. Never grill cold meat! Heat up your grill or grill pan and grill your steak until it’s as done as you like it. We usually like ours pretty rare, but went for more medium on this, as I think it’s nice to cook the sauce a bit more. So maybe shoot for medium to medium well. Cook your steak on a high heat to get the nice char marks; you can move it to a cooler part of the grill if you want it to cook through the middle more; or cover your grill.
4. Let your meat rest for at least five minutes, then slice, eat and enjoy!