If there’s one thing Argentina’s known for, it’s soccer, and if there’s two things, it’s soccer and malbec wine… but when it comes to food it’s all about their steak!! And although I respect the hell out of them for all of the above, what they’ve done to elevate a steak is just magical. My favorite way they do this is by throwing some chimichurri on top. A sauce that cowboys in Argentina used to kick up the meat they were cooking over campfires (usually beef). All they could carry when they were out for days were dried herbs and spices that could be mixed up into a sauce on the fly. Now, there seems to be some contention on where the word chimichurri actually came from. There are a few popular theories on the origin of the word; one being that it comes from a old Basque word that means mixture of things (probably the truth) but the other is a story that involves an English guy named Jimmy Curry coming to Argentina and making a version of this sauce, but because they couldn’t pronounce his name, Jimmy Curry became chimichurri. (I really want that one to be the truth, because that’s hilarious.) But regardless of where the word came from the sauce does a damn good job of taking a steak to a new level, or chicken, or fish, or really any vegetable, I mean you could just eat this stuff by the spoonful, you could even use it as a salad dressing. There are different variations- red and green (the green is better). I made a green version (cause its better). Because it has such a long history, there’s no one recipe and most green chimichurri have a base of chopped up parsley, garlic, oil, and a touch of vinegar. Beyond that you could add just about any other spice or herb you want.

The sauce

Super easy, throw parsley, oil, and some other stuff in a food processor and you’re there! My version uses a little heat and fresh herbs, but you could use less spice or dried herbs as long as you use decent quality oil and enough vinegar to create a good emulsion (coming together like a salad dressing). I always try to have at least two different olive oils on hand, one that I’ll cook with (store brand stuff) and one that is a higher quality (should find “first cold press” on bottle). You wouldn’t want to cook with the good stuff because as soon as you add heat it changes the flavor completely, but it’s a good idea to have some nice olive oil around to finish dishes or use in dressings like this where you still want to taste the oil. As for the vinegar I used a white wine vinegar, but you could use anything that strikes your fancy. As far as the herbs go, I find flat leaf parsley works best and I like to throw in fresh oregano, but you could use some cilantro, or basil, of even a little mint if you want to use it for lamb. I like mine a little spicy so I use some red pepper flakes and cumin but if you’re not a fan of heat you can skip this. But once you’ve found the ingredients you want to use making the sauce is as easy as throwing it in a food processor and letting it do the work, I do find that chopping everything a little first can avoid and large pieces hanging around.

The steak

Now, I could go on and on about steak, and I just might, but later. All I’ll say about it for this dish is- best quality, over open fire, and NOTHING OVER MEDIUM RARE! I’m using a NY strip, and you might be thinking “but the more traditional cuts are skirt steak or flank steak”… well yeah, but I don’t care! I like the strip steak, it’s more tender and has better marbling (fat=flavor), and more importantly it was on sale. If you’re going to half ass it and not build a campfire just to cook this steak, at least use a grill. There’s just something so satisfying about being outside and throwing a steak over some crazy hot coals and getting that amazing sizzle, there’s not much better than that. But most importantly, for this dish, is that it gives you such a good smoky flavor and a good crust. There’s something to be said for a restaurant style steak cooked in a frying pan or even a cast iron but as I said I’ll get to that later, for this dish it’s all about over open fire. Now, if you like your steak well done or even closer to medium well sorry, but you’re wrong! However, I will say if you choose to disrespect meat that way at least this sauce will make it more palatable…

Sides

If you want to be more traditional Argentinian, potatoes seem to be a popular choice, but to be honest I don’t know too much more about it. But I do know that every time I think about steak I think about au gratin potatoes. This might be my Shreveport showing, cause back home there’s a tiny hole in the wall steak house called The Cub that’s located inside the shittiest bar you could possibly imagine, but man those potatoes… I’ve had au gratin potatoes from other places and I’ve made them myself a few times, but they just never seem to be the same. The closest I’ve been able to come is with this recipe that follows.

 

Jimmy Curry Sauce

• ½ cup good quality olive oil
• 3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 large bunch flat leaf parsley
• ½ cup packed fresh oregano
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Remove and discard stems from parsley and oregano, roughly chop leaves and garlic, throw in a food processor with other ingredients and buzz till well mixed about a minute or two. See, I told you it’s easy!

 

The Cub Au Gratin Potato’s (Kinda)

• 3-4 medium russet potato’s peeled
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup milk (2%, there’s no point in skim milk)
• 1½ tablespoon flour
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1½ cups sharp cheddar graded
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh parsley finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400°F

Cube the potatoes ¼ inch in size
Mix together the cream, milk, flour, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Use the butter to grease a large baking dish. Then layer potatoes and cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 40 minutes longer until top is brown and center bubbly. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake additional 10 minutes.