My good friend Victor Kritz made a couple of different recipes for Chimichurri Sauce for a small dinner party, and one was the unanimous favorite of those assembled. It was also similar to but even better than what I used to make so from now on, I'm using Vic's recipe and storing it here. It was perfectly balanced, deliciously herbal and surprisingly fruity . It's essentially a Culinary Institute recipe--I'm providing that below to give due credit, but also showing Vic's tweaks.
For anyone unfamiliar, chimichurri sauce, served room temperature, is the condiment that accompanies grilled meats at a typical Argentinian barbecue.
Yield: 1 pint
8 garlic cloves, peeled
4 ounces chopped onion
1.5 ounces lemon juice
2 tblsp dried oregano, crushed
1 bunch fresh parsley
6 ounces olive oil
2 ounces sherry wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
Combine the sauce ingredients in a food processor (metal blade) and pulse until the ingredients are thoroughly blended but not pureed. The mixutre should be coarse.
Vic's mods:
1. Soaked the onions in hot water to modify the acid in the onions and give a milder taste (not neccessary with a Walla Walla Sweet or Vidalia).
2. Used a combination of lemon and lime juice.
3. Used half parsley and half cilantro.
4. Used half and half white wine and rice vinegar in place of sherry.
5. Increased the salt to 1.5 tsp.
6. Processed the garlic and onions separately to keep the mixture from getting too creamy, removed them, processed the herbs and juices, then added the garlic and onions back and seasoned with s & p.