Chimi-what??

Tonight we had grilled top loin steaks with a chimichurri sauce, caramelized onions and mushrooms, corn on the cob, and grilled flatbreads. I tell you what: I love chimichurri sauce and have been dying to make it. I haven't until now because I didn't have an apparatus that would chop and blend the ingredients. Chimichurri is a sauce traditionally made from pureeing fresh parsley, cilantro, and mint with red wine vinegar and oil with raw garlic. It is a South American sauce whose origin is easily found on Wikipedia should you like to know more.

Tonight I'll give you a play-by-play of how to make what we made in a reasonable amount of time.

Want to make your own Chimichurri sauce? It's wicked simple, and this is where the dish starts. For two people start with about 1/2 cup of parsley (I recommend flat leaf, but any fresh parsley leaves will do), 1/2 cup of cilantro and 1/4 cup of mint leaves. Pulse these in a food processor or if you have it, the grinder attachment of a hand-mixer which is what I used. Add in two large cloves of garlic (more if you really like it), and about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of red-wine vinegar. Pulse until smooth and dressing-like. You can add more of the oil and vinegar if its too thick. Chimichurri should look like a thick sauce, heavier than a vinaigrette but lighter than a pesto would be.

The chimi sauce has a delightfully fresh flavor and the combination of these bright herbs with the robustness of the olive oil and red-wine vinegar really makes for a substantial topping for steak. The spicy bite of the raw garlic blended in just gives it that much more texture. It's really good folks, a treat for sure.

Notes on the process here: Jake doesn't like cilantro so I nixed that and used just the parsley and mint. I recommend keeping the parsley/cilantro to mint ratio 2:1 Otherwise the mint overpowers the dish and you wish you had made a mojito instead...

Set the chimichurri aside and allow it to settle while you start on the onions and mushrooms.

I used a garden-variety large button mushroom that was already steak-cut for me. I rough-chopped these, and set them in foil. I then sliced 1/3 of a white onion (you can use a vidalia onion, Spanish onion or whatever you like) and placed those on the foil. I drizzled these with red-wine vinegar and olive oil -- the same as I used for the Chimi sauce. Feel free to use whatever you like, a nice Italian dressing works too. When I'm cooking peppers,mushrooms, and onions on the grill or any combination thereof, I like to make a foil pouch and add some sort of dressing or marinade. I start these about 10 minutes before whatever meat I'm cooking, as the onions take awhile to caramelize. I find this method works well for me because the moisture essentially steam cooks the veggies but you still get the ambient flavor of the grill as the sugars do their work in reducing the onions to caramelize.

The amount of time you leave these on will depend on your grill, so experiment. I put them off to the side where the heat is less intense so they can sit for longer. Make sure you check them periodically and stir as needed with your grilling utensil of choice. For this meal I like big metal grill tongs.

I think the corn is self- explanatory so I won't go there, but start this early too. I'd recommend starting the water to boil after making the sauce and popping the corn in right away. You know it's done when you lift the lid up and the aroma of corn wafts out at you.

Now the piece-De-resistance -- the steak. For this dish I think people usually use a flank or skirt steak because they are lean but tender and the flavor of that cut pairs well with the chimi. But, I used what we had on hand which was two 4oz top loin steaks. This worked just as well. Usually I marinate my steak for at least two hours, but since we are using the chimi, I just tenderized it with a fork and liberally salted and peppered each side. I set it on the grill, for a medium thickness sirloin, as shown here, I'd recommend about 4 to 5 minutes on each side for medium rare to medium, but this will depend on the strength of your grill. A grill thermometer helps here too...

Notes on the process: Here's a mistake that novice grillers usually make -- they keep flipping the meat over and over and over. Put the meat on the grill and leave it alone! You'll get nice grill marks on it this way, and it will cook more evenly. Flip only once when at all possible to do so. And don't worry if the flames flare up around the meat, that's the flame-broiled goodness you are looking for. You don't need a fast-food burger joint for that, you've got it right here!

When the steak is done let it rest for a minimum of five minutes. 10-15 is better if you can get your mouth to stop watering long enough. Why? During the cooking process the heat brings all of the meat juices to the outside of the steak, so you need to let the steak cool, or "rest" a bit to let those juices redistribute throughout the meat. If you don't do this you risk ending up letting all those juices run out when you cut the meat and you end up with a dry, tough steak (trust me, I've done it it makes me sad).

Grilled flatbreads are easy, and you can do this with any kind of substantially-structured bread you want (crostini, pita, etc... wonder bread will be too soft and will stick to your grill). Brush the bread with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. If you have a top rack to your grill, throw these there and let them sit on one side for about a minute. Flip 'em and repeat. If you don't have a top rack, place them wherever the heat is the least intense.

Alright kids, dinner is done! Top the steak with the chimichurri and onions/mushrooms to taste and dig in! The flavor of the chimi sauce is a an additional dimension of flavor for the steak by itself but if you want a little heat a good Louisiana-style hot sauce is also a good addition. The vinegar in this hot sauce blends nicely with the vinegar in the chimi sauce.

I recommend: This dish with a gin and tonic or club soda with lime on the back porch.