Photo Credit: The Kitchen Witch
I would make a terrible food blogger. I am, I’m told, a good cook, but I am not an adventurous cook because the people I cook for are not adventurous eaters. I must have a problem with authority because I’ve never met a recipe that I couldn’t change, substitute or tweak. Also I like food, but I don’t loooovvvveee food. That’s one of the things that makes a good food blog; passion for the subject.
So why am I even talking about food? Because last weekend I had a food epiphany; Chimmichurri sauce.
A basic Chimmichurri sauce is made by mincing fresh herbs with some garlic, onion, and olive oil. It’s the new pesto, the new salsa, the new whatever ‘it’ food. It’s easy to make, tastes like fresh green heaven and is a totally versatile condiment. I first tried it at Bolero, a Brazilian style churrascaria in Calgary and while I liked the way it gave the gloriously endless line of meat a bit of zip, it never occurred to me to make it at home.
Reading through some legitimate food blogs last weekend, I came across this recipe from the The Kitchen Witch that I just had to try. The Argentine Beef Skewers were a hit with the husband and one of the kids. The other deemed it ‘too spicy’, (which they were not), and only ate one bite.
The Chimmichurri sauce was a breeze to make, although I made some changes to it, of course. I omitted the carrots and decreased the amount of garlic (which I know is sacrilege for a Greek but I did it anyway…). The other thing about Chimmichurri sauce is you can substitute the kinds of herbs you use which also alters the flavor; no Italian parsley? Try curly parsley or a little cilantro.
And versatile? Oh yeah! The sauce was an inspiration for 4 meals!
Monday was the Argentine Skewers with green salad, lemon vinaigrette and garlic baguette
Tuesday I used the sauce to marinate chicken which I then BBQ’ed AND to season baby potatoes which I cooked in foil on the BBQ.
I also smeared it on sliced baguette and as a dip for celery sticks for lunch.
Wednesday I used it instead of tomato sauce for homemade pizza.
Finally I had only about a tablespoon left but couldn’t bear to throw it away, so I mixed it with a little bit of salsa that I also had left over and spread it on my scrambled eggs for breakfast. Sigh…
In all these applications it added a real depth of flavor and freshness. As my kids would say, it was “Yumbas!”
Oh and this is another reason I would make a lousy food blogger; I didn’t take any pictures!
But regardless of my shortcomings, you should still try it! You’ll love it!!
