Argentinian Steak Sammich

Okay, I wouldn't exactly claim to know what I'm doing in the realm of South American food...wait, Argentina IS in South America, right? See, I don't even know where the damn country is. Wait...Argentina IS a country, right? Hooray for public school edumacation!

The one thing I do know about Argentinian food is that you need a good Chimichurri sauce. I have no idea what Chimichurri means nor do I think I can pronounce it right. It's pretty similar to how I make cilantro pesto with a few variations.

I had some fresh parsley and I managed to scrounge up the last little pathetic bundle of cilantro at da Jewels, so I used an even portion of each, maybe totalling to about one cup if you smashed it all together. Then I used too much garlic, according to Charlie, a shallot, and the juice of one lemon and threw it all in the food processor.

There is nothing prettier than a white dish full of spices. This is about 3 tbsp of salt, 1 tbsp of pepper and 1 tbsp of red pepper that my MIL dropped off the other day. Forget McCormick crushed red pepper, this stuff makes that stuff taste like white sugar.

Then add 3/4 a cup of olive oil (or so...measuring is for chumps) and maybe 3 tbsp (or so) of red wine vinegar. Let it mix up in the food processor.

Chimichurri! It looks a bit lighter than I expected it would, but it was pretty good. Though per Charlie, too much garlic. Everything I make gets at least one piece of criticism from Charlie, and that was it this time.

For the steak, I improvised and used the same spice mix (salt, pepper, red pepper) that I used for the sauce and mixed in some olive oil.

Add the marinade to some slightly tenderized steaks. I used ribeyes because, well...they're the best. I guess if you're not into steaks with a higher fat content then meat content, you should use strip or flank steaks, but I'm a ribeye girl, and it's not like I eat red meat often enough to care about the fat content of my steaks, blah blah blah. Why am I apologizing?

Have someone who knows what they're doing (maybe even you!) to grill the steaks. These were more cooked than we liked but that's the whole point of Argentinian steaks, I hear. They're not supposed to be mooing. I served these on French rolls with the chimichurri sauce drizzled (okay, slathered) on the meat. Good stuff!

Then the next morning, take some leftover steak, leftover grilled corn, some chimi and hot sauce and throw it all in a tortilla. Breakfast of champions!