Lagniappe (“a Little Something Extra”)

Found Recipe: Churrasco’s Chimichurri

~ Kim of Glover Gardens ~ 1 Comment

I love to create in my kitchen on weekends, take a bunch of photos, and then recreate the yumminess in posts here in the Glover Gardens Cookbook blog.  Alas, there are no kitchen creations to post this weekend, as I have an early morning flight for a business trip tomorrow and am busy preparing and packing.  I do have a recipe to share, though:  Churrasco’s chimichurri sauce.  Have you had chimichurri before?  It is sooooo good – a foodie-worthy sauce that is very simple to make.  Churrasco’s is a Houston-based South American restaurant chain, and they deliver the real South American goods.  “Churrasco” means beef, or more generally, grilled meats, in both Spanish and Portugese.

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Photo from Food and Wine

That green sauce on the steak is chimichurri sauce, and it is wonderful.  Fresh, green and garlicky in its olive oil base, it brings a brightness to the steak.  I can’t get enough chimichurri, and it is good on so many other things!  Scrambled eggs, fajita tacos, grilled chicken, as a dip…the possibilities are endless.  In addition to topping steak with it, Churrasco’s serves chimichurri with dried plantain chips as an appetizer.

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Whenever I go to Churrasco’s, I bring home plantains and chimichurri sauce, to continue the South American party at home.

There are lots of chimichurri recipes out there, but I am loyal to this one from Churrasco’s, published in Food and Wine magazine.  Simple and delicious, it has only four ingredients and can be made in less than five minutes.  Although the recipe calls for curly parsley, flat-leaf parsley is also excellent, and you can substitute cilantro for a different south-of-the-border flavor.

Ingredients

2 bunches curly parsley, thick stems discarded
1/3 cup garlic cloves, crushed
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Refrigerate, but allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Here’s a link to the recipe in Food and Wine, which also has instructions for the steak.  Another of my finds at Churrasco’s was the Pisco Sour.

Found Recipe: This Marinade is The BOMB for Pork

~ Kim of Glover Gardens ~ 1 Comment

During a quick afternoon visit last Sunday, my Dad asked what we were making for dinner, and offered up a marinade when I told him our main course was pork tenderloin.

He scanned the bookshelf in his kitchen, fingers gliding across dozens of cookbooks, until he found the right one.

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Ahhh.  A Junior League cookbook: Georgia on My Menu.  Has there EVER been a bad Junior League cookbook?  Not in my lifetime.  Those Junior League ladies have got the process down.  They have standards.  They must have 30 families test each recipe so they can perfect them.  Junior League Cookbooks are like war bonds or Superman or Sunday School teachers:  they can be counted on.  If aliens attack, I want to be protected by Junior League ladies.

So here’s the recipe.  As Dad noted, “Of course it’s good, the page is covered in drips and drops!”  Isn’t that right – all my favorite recipes are covered with the evidence of how many times they’ve been used.

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Dear Reader, after the recommendation from Dad, I made this marinade mostly as written (sans lemon, as we were sadly lacking).  I marinated our pork tenderloin for about 90 minutes in this potent potion, and  WOW!  I need to repeat that:  WOW!  The pork was savory, tender, succulent, umami-laden and just plain good.  I boiled the marinade after the tenderloin was committed to the grill and it was a great glaze for the finished product, which, in addition to the pork, included grilled fennel, onions and bell peppers.

To use business phrases, the “key takeaways” are:

  • Listen to Dad
  • Trust Junior League Recipes
  • If a cookbook page is crusty or stained, the recipe is a classic

This is my Dad.  There are no words to express the goodness he has brought to my life.  Including the pork marinade, of course.

Dad at the Stove

Zippy Southwest Spice Mix

~ Kim of Glover Gardens ~ 10 Comments
Zippy is quick and easy to make.
Zippy is quick and easy to make. 

A few years ago, I realized that I was using a lot of the same herbs and spices when I created recipes or spiced up old standbys and decided to create a spice mix.  Zippy Southwest was born after a couple of tries and is a staple in my kitchen now. It makes a great seasoning for grilling meat, fish or vegetables. It can transform scrambled eggs, refried beans, steamed vegetables, French fries or anything that could benefit from a little more zip.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. + 2 tsp. oregano leaves
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. white pepper
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. finely ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

To transform the spice mix into a blackening rub for meat or fish, add sugar: 2 tsp. of sugar per 1/3 cup of Zippy SW.  The spice rub version will create a nice blackened crust on the grill.

This spice mix makes a great holiday gift; make it in bulk by changing the amounts: 1 tsp. to 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp. to 1 cup.

Copyright 2015 Glover Gardens Cookbook