Chillin and Grillin

I am taking a break from the Mediterranean tour today. I am in a serious grilling mood and a grilled Chimichurri covered steak sounds good to me. This sauce also works well with skewered grilled shrimp. Grill some up with a steak for a tasty surf and turf. Marinade the beef for 2 hours, and the shrimp for 1 hour, grill and serve with more sauce.

Chimichurri is a pesto style sauce and marinade used with grilled meat in Argentina and Uruguay It is usually the only seasoning used for steak and chorizo sausages in Argentine asados. It can also be used as a marinade for any kind of grilled meat.

Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup extra virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh Lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh Lime juice
• 1/2 cup minced fresh Cilantro
• 6 cloves crushed Garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped or crumbled fresh or 1 teaspoon dried Oregano.
• 1 tablespoon Cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 2 minced Shallots
• 1 teaspoon minced Basil, Thyme or Oregano, or mixture
• Kosher Salt and Course ground Black Pepper to taste

Preparations

1. Puree all ingredients in food processor.
2. Reserve 1/4 of a cup for use as a marinade.
3. Transfer remaining sauce to a bowl.
4. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Babaganoosh

Here we go with another middle eastern appetizer that can be made well in advance.

Babaganoosh is a paste made of roast or grilled eggplant and tahini.This is a delicious healthy snack that can be eaten with pita. It is served along with hummus and tabouli as an appetizer course.

Ingredients

• 3 eggplants broiled
• 4 cloves garlic
• fresh lemon juice, to taste
• Olive oil, to taste
• Kosher or Sea Salt
• ½ cup tahini
• 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
• chopped fresh mint, and parsley for garnish

Preparation

1. Pierce eggplants with fork.
2. Place the eggplants in a baking dish.
3. Roast in oven on shelf furthest from the flame.
4. Broil 20 minutes on one side.
5. Turn and broil 10 minutes on other side.
6. Cool for easy handling.
7. With a spoon scoop out the flesh of the eggplant.
8. Place the flesh in bowl, sprinkle with salt.
9. Press to remove water from the flesh.
10. Drain the water and sprinkle with more salt.
11. Repeat this 3 times.
12. Combine all the ingredients in food processor or blender
13. Process until the mixture is smooth.
14. Garnished with chopped fresh mint, and parsley
15. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Tabouli

I am still on my middle eastern food making binge. Here is another one of the recipes I like a lot. Since I have said to hummus and tabouli make a good pairing; I should give you the recipe for one of my favorite salads.

Tabouli is a refreshing bulgar wheat salad combining tomatoes, green onions, cucumber. fresh flat leaf parsley, fresh mint leaves, olive oil and lemon juice. The bright lemon flavor is great for cleaning your palette and waking up your taste buds. I like it as an appetizer, side dish with a meat course, or for a light lunch with some hummus and pita bread.

Ingredients:

• 1¼ cup bulgar wheat fine grind
• 2 cups boiling water
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1¼ cup green onions chopped
• 1¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
• ½ cup fresh mint chopped
• 1½ cup tomatoes, chopped
• 1¼ cup cucumber - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1¼ teaspoon Kosher or Sea salt
• coarsely ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Combine bulgar and boiling water in a large bowl.
2. Cover, and set aside to soak for 1 hour.
3. Finely chop the parsley and mint.
4. Chop the green onions.
5. Peel cucumber, remove the seeds.
6. Slice the cucumber into thin strips, dice finely.
7. Dice and chop the tomatoes.
8. Juice the lemons strain out the seeds

Assembly

1. Once the bulgar has cooled, but still warm uncover the bowl.
2. Fluff the bulgar with a fork to separate the grains,
3. Add oil, lemon juice, stir until the grains are coated.
4. Stir in the onions, parsley, mint, tomatoes, and cucumber
5. Toss the ingredients to combine them.
6. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
7. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 24 is better.

Makes 8-10 Servings