ludja

Chimichurri Sauce!

I guess I was living under a rock, because I had never had chimichurri sauce, that wonderful herby salsa of South America. I also noticed that there wasn't an Egullet topic devoted to chimichurri...so... I remedied my own deficiency last week with a friend. We grilled up some great steaks and had them with a parsley-oregano chimichuirri sauce. I made a simple pilaf and some buttered green beans to serve alongside. It was an incredibly satisfying meal; one that I can see repeating all summer long. Here's the recipe that we used: 1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley 2 Tbs finely minced fresh oregano 1 shallot, minced 1 clove garlic, minced ½ tsp salt 1 tsp crushed red pepper 1 ½ tsp red wine vinegar 1 Tbs lemon juice ~ ¼ cup olive oil Any other favorite variations or uses? I'm particularly interested in people's experiences combining chimichurri with seafood. What about wine pairings? We had a bold Cabernet Sauvignon which actually went quite well with the meal, in spite of?, the strong chimichurri flavors.

This is a great bakery; reminds me that I have not been there recently! I'll have to remedy that soon and maybe couple it with a trip to the new Beard Papa for cream puffs also. I love the photo you took of the bakers in the kitchen. Thanks for sharing.

It was interesting to see the Austrian and Viennese inspiration for the tarts cited on your website. Did you mind me asking if you have recent relatives from Austria or was it a tradition that was passed down for several generations in the "New World"? I guess recipes would need to be tweaked to fit into the frozen format. It looks like you have some interesting choices.

Kaiser bakeware from Germany is also very good. Here's a link to two pages of their bundtpans: click

I remember seeing this in a Julia Child Master Chef episode. I think they call it "Dirty Steak" and serve with "Fanny Sauce". I found a link with a video clip to that episode: click and it is most likely in the accompanying book as well. I've seen a cookbook from Al Forno, "Cucina Simpatica"; there may also be a recipe in there. It would be interesting to hear if anyone's experience with it though. The only thing I've cooked directly on coals is shucked corn on the cob.

If the fennel is not young anymore and the texture leaves something to be desired you can also place the stalks and leaves on barbeque coals to add a fennel scent to grilled foods. Stocks are another good option as mentioned. If you find some tender stalks, tomato and fennel is a great combination. A reoccuring favorite dish for me is tomato fennel risotto, with or without shrimp.

A much less informed recommendation than Carolyn's, but a a Korean co-worker took us all out for nice Korean BBQ at Brother's (4128 Geary, between 5th and 6th). This is farther on out in the western part of the city but there should be buses that run up and down Geary. My last time there was over 5 years ago and it was my first Korean bbq; perhaps someone else has comments on how they rate overall and how they are doing lately. Have a nice trip; Russian Hill is a beautiful area for a home base.

Yum, that looks really great, snowangel. Are the bulby things, spring garlic? Good luck with your *new* smoker today! What a weather week for grilling and smoking, lancastermike! My mom's traditional Mother's Day grilled shrimp (in CT) had to made inside on Sunday.

Huh? ← Ortolan More info here: ortolan gastronomy

Thanks for the report and photos, lizard and annachan! I'll definately stop by next time I'm up in SF. From the photos, I saw the green tea puffs listed under "weekly specials". I guess that means that eventually each week there will be one specialty flavor puff?

Once any of you feel comfortable in cutting up a dressed rabbit from a freezer package you may want to try this civet of hare. Note: This discussion may not be for Andi Pena Longmeadow Farm right now... I'd like to see her finished dish! However, the discussion does delve a bit into how close someone is comfortable in getting with the original meat source. edited to add: Congrats on forging ahead, Andi Pena!

Thank you for reminding me of this small winery--and that they have Cabernet Franc. A good friend has been on the lookout especially for Cabernet Francs so this will be nice to check out again soon. We visited Burrell School about a year ago and had a mixed opinion overall on the wines although I found them interesting enough to definately check them out a few more times. As I recall, most of the reds we tasted were quite "big" with plenty of tannins. That being said, David Bruce Santa Cruz Mtn reds are pretty big as well and I very much enjoy David Bruce wines. The Burrell School winery also has one of the lovliest settings among the many CA wineries I've visiited. We had a picnic lunch there next to the old restored schoolhouse and accompanied by a bottle of one of their reds (can't recall which. We had incomparable views over the vineyards, through the mountains and to the ocean. Do you know if they do source most of their grapes from the Santa Cruz mountains?

If you have an ice cream maker, butter pecan ice cream might be a fine ending. Two other ideas: homemade butterscotch pudding with whipped cream or homemade banana pudding. The other idea that sprang to mind violates the no-pie dictum: buttermilk pie. edited to add: I guess I have "butter" and "b's" on the brain. (Congrats on the pizza made in the face of adversity! They looked good.)

Thanks, Pan. I used both strawberries and pineapple; the latter came out better as they kept their shape better through the chip making process. I just sliced the fruit very thinly, ~ 1/10 inch. I sprinkled the top with some sugar and pressed in some crushed pink peppercorns. I then baked them at the lowest oven setting (~ 200 deg F) for about 3 hours or until they were crisp. Early on in the baking I used a spatula to periodically un-stick the chips as they were drying out and to shift them to a slightly different position in the pan. (It's important not to sprinkle the sugar on the chips in the baking pan as the excess sugar may "glue" the chip down in the pan.)

The meat grinder I bought ~ 10 years ago is made in Poland by "Alfa 10". It is described as "double tinned".

Another interesting New World comparision might be the Cabernet Franc from Casa Rodena in neighboring Albuquerque, NM. Yes, you read that right, Albuquerque. Their grapes come from different parts of NM and S. Colorado. They are best known for their Cabernet Franc. I tasted their wines recently and thought they were pretty good. I don't have as much experience tasting Cabernet Franc but I thought the wine had some real interest and complexity. (I enjoyed their sangioveses a bit more.) Here's a link to their web page with a description of their wines: Casa Rodena

Yum, those all sound like great suggestions. I don't know why don't remember to use them for shortcakes. The mascarpone is a good idea too; I like making shortcakes with creme fraiche also, as a filling.

Pretty amazing to have blackberries so early, do you know if are they local? If you just want to enjoy the berries relatively straight up, I'd probaby just opt to eat them lightly sugarad with heavy cream. A great breakfast or dessert would also be to have them lightly sugared alongside some fromage blanc or some other fresh cheese. If you have a firmer cheese like Farmer's cheese, I'd lighten it up with some heavy cream. They would be great with this simple cream sauce recipe I deposited in RecipeGullet as well: http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r1644.html, alone or with some pound cake or a crisp cookie. Three cups of berries is enough to also make a quart of blackberry ice cream. edited to add: I guess all my suggestions include CREAM. (I love berries and cream). They would also go great lightly sugared and alongside a panna cotta...

Nice chompers.

Ice cream or sorbet, angrykoala? I've seen pink peppercorns mentioned with pineapple before but I can also personally testify to it being a great combination. At Easter I was fooling around with a garnish for a pineapple-anise granita I made and came up with a caramelized pineapple chip covered with crush pink peppercorns. I thought it would be pretty but it also ended up adding a great complexity of flavor to the dish. Pineapple Anise Granita with Pink Peppercorn Fruit Chips

Hey, jschyun! Hope you're doing well. Do you remember the name of the dish we ordered with XO sauce there? I think the base of the dish was a type of very white-colored, rice-based dumpling/noodle. I thought those were great.

I agree; one nice place to start might be the roasted cauliflower thread here on egullet. I've made that as a pasta dish for a mixed dinner of carnivores and vegetarians and everyone was very happy. The dish has a rich, meaty flavor from the roasted onions and cauliflower. Sometimes I add in some roasted peppers as well.

I love oriechette, as mentioned above, for it toothsomeness and the way it captures small chunks of sauce. The first pasta dish I made with these was with sausage and broccoli raab and it is still a favorite. For similar reasons reasons I like gemelli which has two (twinned) short pieces of pasta fused together. This also works well with chunky small pieces of sauce. Long, slippery pieces of paparadelle are classic and delicious with ragus. I love orzo as a side dish in the summer--dressed after cooking with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and chopped up oil-cured olives and parsley. It's easy, delicious and goes with almost anything. I must try bucatini--this fits well with carbonara, no?

Apricot Almond Bars (cookie layer on bottom, then apricot filling and then finished with a sliced almond/merigue topping). These should be fine cut into bars and stored in a tupperware container.