chimichurri

My photographer friend, Kathi Littwin, recommended a cookbook after she and her husband, Gil, got back from their honeymoon in Argentina: Seven Fires, Grilling the Argentine Way. Kathi posted gorgeous photos from their trip on her blog, and the food looked so amazing that I had to buy the book and try out some recipes myself.

This weekend, while I threw some hanger steaks on a hot grill pan, Judd took a stab at the book's recipe for chimichurri and it was amazing! Bright, spicy, and salty -- a perfect accompaniment to grilled meat. And it's so light! I was imagining an oily sauce akin to a traditional Italian pesto, but the end result was like a thin green salsa, which led me to use it less judiciously than I had planned. I highly recommend you give chimichurri a try.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled

1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

1 cup fresh oregano leaves

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the salt and stir until it dissolves. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. Chop the garlic, parsley, oregano, and red pepper flakes in the bowl of a large food processor. When the herbs and garlic are chopped, leave the food processor on and add the vinegar, olive oil, and cooled salt water through the feed tube until all ingredients are well blended. Remove the lid and mix in some freshly ground black pepper to taste.

To go with the steaks, I made some oven-roasted asparagus with lime juice and baked sweet potatoes. The whole dinner took less than an hour, and I have lots of delicious chimichurri leftover, which will keep in an air-tight container for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

baked fontina

I made the most delicious and decadent pre-dinner snack on New Year's Eve this year with our friends Catherine and Peter: baked fontina. And it was so simple! You just need a healthy amount of Italian fontina cheese, olive oil, fresh herbs, and garlic. Everything goes into a cast iron skillet, and after a few minutes under the broiler, you end up with a pan full of very flavorful melted cheese to spread on crusty bread. Add a glass or two of wine, and you'll be on your way to preprandial bliss!

The recipe, which originally comes from The Red Cat in Chelsea (one of my very favorite places), is featured in the lunch chapter of Ina Garten's book, The Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?. I myself would find it very hard to have a productive afternoon if I ate this much melted cheese in the middle of the day, so I recommend serving it as a first course.

Here's what you need:

1.5 lbs Italian Fontina Val D'Aosta cheese, rind removed and diced into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 crusty french baguette

1. Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat.

2. Spread the cubes of fontina evenly around a 12-inch cast iron pan. Drizzle olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.

3. Serve the baked fontina right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan, with crusty chunks of bread for dipping.