Gail
04-26-2004, 01:20 PM
For Melissa and anyone else who may be interested:
Here is the original recipe from Cooking Light. My comments follow:
Churrasco with Chimichurri Sauce
1 (1 1/2-pound) boned sirloin steak
1 1/2 cups cilantro sprigs
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
3 bay leaves
Cooking spray
Chimichurri Sauce
Trim fat from steak, and set aside. Combine cilantro and next 9 ingredients (cilantro through bay leaves) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add steak to bag, and seal. Marinate in refrigerator for 3 hours, turning occasionally. Remove steak from bag; discard marinade.
Prepare grill.
Place steak on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill steak 8 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 3 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices. Serve with Chimichurri Sauce.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 3 ounces steak and about 2 1/2 tablespoons sauce)
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 239 (43% from fat); FAT 11.5g (sat 3.3g, mono 6.2g, poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 26.6g; CARB 7.5g; FIBER 1.7g; CHOL 76mg; IRON 5.4mg; SODIUM 459mg; CALC 79mg;
Chimichurri Sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves
3 bay leaves
2 jalapeņo peppers, stems removed
1 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced fresh oregano
Place first 6 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Add parsley and oregano, and stir well.
Yield: 1 cup (serving size: about 2 1/2 tablespoons)
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 55 (77% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 0.7g, mono 3.4g, poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 0.7g; CARB 3.5g; FIBER 0.8g; CHOL 0.0mg; IRON 1.4mg; SODIUM 202mg; CALC 40mg;
Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2000
Gail comments: Yes, I know there's already quite a bit of garlic in this, but still I increased it to an even quarter cup. Before marinating, I mixed together the dry herbs with about a tablespoon of vinegar, then "psychoed" the meat by hacking it with the tip of my butcher's knife. I then slathered the meat on both sides with some of the garlic, then the herb mix, making sure that I was able to infuse as much as possible of the goodies into the slits in the meat. I then marinated as per the recipe, turning the meat in the bag occasionally (I had more than one piece and wanted to be sure everything was amply covered.) We ended up marinating about 3 1/2 hours and my husband used a bit of the marinade (minus solids) as he was barbecuing. (We also may have had still had a bit of leftover unburned mesquite from the last meal, which imparts its own flavor.) I served it with black beans and rice, and of course, the chimichurri. Everyone thought it was EXCELLENT!
Insofar as chimichurri goes, I personally thought the CL version tasted mostly like parsley. It was okay, but didn't ring any particular chimes. So, when my Puerto Rican friend, Vanessa, came up with the recipe below, I was eager to try it, which I did with minor tweaks listed below. Please note that if the idea of devoting an entire cup of oil to a sauce seems unthinkable (but you're not all strictly low-fat hounds here anyway, are you?) please consider this: a tiny bit of the sauce goes a long, long way. This is not a sauce you spoon over your food, rather something you use like mustard, as a relish. You won't use enough of it to worry about the fat content. Honestly, I don't know if chimichurri is intended to be used this way, but that's the way we've always used the following recipe. We love it, and I customarily only make half a recipe. I still giggle, remembering my sister's Mexican caregiver, who loved this stuff so much her eyes lit up with I gave her leftover sauce to take home. I understand she was eating it with EVERYTHING until it was used up. :)
CHIMICHURRI SAUCE
Recipe courtesy of Jorge Rodriguez, Chimichurri Grill
2 bunches flat leaf parsley
6 cloves garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons dry oregano
2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup roasted pepper, diced
1 cup salmuera (made with 1 cup warm water and 3 tablespoons of Kosher salt)
Start with the salmuera; mix the warm water with salt and set aside to cool completely.
In a food processor, combine fresh parsley, fresh oregano, garlic and olive oil. Pulse several times.
Add the dry ingredients and the vinegars in a slow motion.
Pour the cold salmuera slowly into the sauce, while mixing, until the sauce is well amalgamated.
Yield: 4 cups.
Gail note: I had no idea what was meant by "roasted pepper" so I improvised here, and for a half recipe used 1/2 roasted green bell pepper, 1 Anaheim chile and 1 jalapeņo, the latter just to toss in a slight kick. The Anaheim and jalapeņo I popped into the toaster oven rack on a high heat turning to blister the skins (which roasts them a bit) and then popped them into a paper bag to steam a few minutes so the skins slipped off easily. You may remove seeds from chiles if you like, depending upon how spicy you like things (using gloves would be advisable.) I'm sure anyone Argentine would be cringing to find I'd added the chile-- very likely the same way I feel when someone wants to kick up the heat in Cuban food-- but hey, when the guy says "peppers" how do I know that couldn't encompass chile peppers? (rationalizing here.) Anyway, it works.
Here is the original recipe from Cooking Light. My comments follow:
Churrasco with Chimichurri Sauce
1 (1 1/2-pound) boned sirloin steak
1 1/2 cups cilantro sprigs
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
3 bay leaves
Cooking spray
Chimichurri Sauce
Trim fat from steak, and set aside. Combine cilantro and next 9 ingredients (cilantro through bay leaves) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add steak to bag, and seal. Marinate in refrigerator for 3 hours, turning occasionally. Remove steak from bag; discard marinade.
Prepare grill.
Place steak on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill steak 8 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 3 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices. Serve with Chimichurri Sauce.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 3 ounces steak and about 2 1/2 tablespoons sauce)
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 239 (43% from fat); FAT 11.5g (sat 3.3g, mono 6.2g, poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 26.6g; CARB 7.5g; FIBER 1.7g; CHOL 76mg; IRON 5.4mg; SODIUM 459mg; CALC 79mg;
Chimichurri Sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves
3 bay leaves
2 jalapeņo peppers, stems removed
1 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced fresh oregano
Place first 6 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Add parsley and oregano, and stir well.
Yield: 1 cup (serving size: about 2 1/2 tablespoons)
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 55 (77% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 0.7g, mono 3.4g, poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 0.7g; CARB 3.5g; FIBER 0.8g; CHOL 0.0mg; IRON 1.4mg; SODIUM 202mg; CALC 40mg;
Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2000
Gail comments: Yes, I know there's already quite a bit of garlic in this, but still I increased it to an even quarter cup. Before marinating, I mixed together the dry herbs with about a tablespoon of vinegar, then "psychoed" the meat by hacking it with the tip of my butcher's knife. I then slathered the meat on both sides with some of the garlic, then the herb mix, making sure that I was able to infuse as much as possible of the goodies into the slits in the meat. I then marinated as per the recipe, turning the meat in the bag occasionally (I had more than one piece and wanted to be sure everything was amply covered.) We ended up marinating about 3 1/2 hours and my husband used a bit of the marinade (minus solids) as he was barbecuing. (We also may have had still had a bit of leftover unburned mesquite from the last meal, which imparts its own flavor.) I served it with black beans and rice, and of course, the chimichurri. Everyone thought it was EXCELLENT!
Insofar as chimichurri goes, I personally thought the CL version tasted mostly like parsley. It was okay, but didn't ring any particular chimes. So, when my Puerto Rican friend, Vanessa, came up with the recipe below, I was eager to try it, which I did with minor tweaks listed below. Please note that if the idea of devoting an entire cup of oil to a sauce seems unthinkable (but you're not all strictly low-fat hounds here anyway, are you?) please consider this: a tiny bit of the sauce goes a long, long way. This is not a sauce you spoon over your food, rather something you use like mustard, as a relish. You won't use enough of it to worry about the fat content. Honestly, I don't know if chimichurri is intended to be used this way, but that's the way we've always used the following recipe. We love it, and I customarily only make half a recipe. I still giggle, remembering my sister's Mexican caregiver, who loved this stuff so much her eyes lit up with I gave her leftover sauce to take home. I understand she was eating it with EVERYTHING until it was used up. :)
CHIMICHURRI SAUCE
Recipe courtesy of Jorge Rodriguez, Chimichurri Grill
2 bunches flat leaf parsley
6 cloves garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons dry oregano
2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup roasted pepper, diced
1 cup salmuera (made with 1 cup warm water and 3 tablespoons of Kosher salt)
Start with the salmuera; mix the warm water with salt and set aside to cool completely.
In a food processor, combine fresh parsley, fresh oregano, garlic and olive oil. Pulse several times.
Add the dry ingredients and the vinegars in a slow motion.
Pour the cold salmuera slowly into the sauce, while mixing, until the sauce is well amalgamated.
Yield: 4 cups.
Gail note: I had no idea what was meant by "roasted pepper" so I improvised here, and for a half recipe used 1/2 roasted green bell pepper, 1 Anaheim chile and 1 jalapeņo, the latter just to toss in a slight kick. The Anaheim and jalapeņo I popped into the toaster oven rack on a high heat turning to blister the skins (which roasts them a bit) and then popped them into a paper bag to steam a few minutes so the skins slipped off easily. You may remove seeds from chiles if you like, depending upon how spicy you like things (using gloves would be advisable.) I'm sure anyone Argentine would be cringing to find I'd added the chile-- very likely the same way I feel when someone wants to kick up the heat in Cuban food-- but hey, when the guy says "peppers" how do I know that couldn't encompass chile peppers? (rationalizing here.) Anyway, it works.