Tuesday, May 18, 2010

It's in the SAUCE!

Ok, I've been a fan of chimichurri sauce ever since Nate and I discovered Buenos Aires, The Most Adorable teeny tiny Argentine restaurant down the street from our old house.   How cute is this?

Chimichurri is an herb-laden spicy gem of a sauce for meats or veggies or to dip bread or chips into... I just may even drink it out of a glass.   Last week our newspaper featured the sauce and had the best quick recipe for chimichurri I've ever made... typically I use only fresh herbs in my chimichurri but this recipe called for both fresh and dried and you probably already have all of these ingredients in your pantry.  Nate and I brushed it over tilapia filets and roasted them for 10 minutes and they were perfect.  Er, I should say they were perfect after I figured out NOT to heat our oven to 500 degrees or the smoke may fill the house and set off the alarms and the firemen may come.  For a side dish I tossed whole cherry tomatoes and sliced zucchini in the chimichurri and roasted them 20 minutes... what was left over I blended for pizza sauce - YUM CITY!  Here's the recipe:

6 T red wine vinegar
1/4 c water
2 T minced garlic (~ 8 cloves) - this is probably the one time in my life that I did not quadruple then amount of garlic in a recipe... didn't even need to!
1 bay leaf, broken in half
1.5 t salt
.5-1 t dried hot red pepper flakes
1 t dried oregano
1 t coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 c olive oil
1 c finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, including stems

In a wide-mouthed glass or jar or in a bowl, stir together vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaf, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano and black pepper.  Whisk in oil until combined then whisk in parsley.  Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.  Makes approximately 1.5 cups.  

I say go start your grill, make the sauce, throw the meat on the grill, baste with chimichurri... when your meat is cooked, serve it with a little chimichurri on the side for dipping and you won't be disappointed! 

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Ok when I was home in Colorado for the Wedding of the Century I forgot to tell you two things.... first of all, Everyday Joe's hangs art for sale on their walls and while I was home they had paintings on fabric by this talented fellow:
Here's the info about him that is hard to read above:
and here's the painting I bought... only $25!  I'm guessing the money goes farther there than it does here and I was super excited that all of the money goes directly to him.  
Is that awesome or what?!?!?   I need to figure out what the instrument is that she's playing... please tell me if you know what it is.  It is NOT a hamburger with a fried egg on top and a fish skeleton coming out the side of it, of that I am certain.  


Ok, and then Thing Number Two that I forgot to share was that my new Sis-in-law was Super Brave and asked me to make the necklaces for her bridesmaids to wear IN THE WEDDING!  Can you believe it?!?!?  Here they are:
I laid them over the top of my sis's bridesmaid dress so that you could see what lovely taste Missy has.  Pretty, eh?  Thanks again, Missy, for including me and allowing me the honor to make these beauties for you! xoxo

Ok, final image for you is my babies enjoying an afghan I crocheted... I crocheted the afghan for people to use but you wouldn't know it... actually, I do believe the queen bed in our master bedroom is for people to use as well BUT the babies think otherwise.  I can't deny those babies, they're too ding dang cute.  



3 comments:

  1. I'd love to attempt making that lovely recipe, but I almost burned down the house last week. See today's blog posting. LOVE the necklaces, ladyface!!!

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  2. Recipe: sounds yummy! Will try!
    Necklaces: Super great, as usual!
    Babies: Super Duper adorable!!!

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  3. Oh, I so miss my grandpuppies - this picture is like rubbing salt in a wound :)

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