Chimichurri Sauce

I remember a couple years ago when chimichurri sauce was all the rage. Everything had this weird green sauce on it. I ignored it and went on with my day.

But one day I wanted to do something new with steak. I'm a big believer in a simple steak--salt, pepper, maybe some Worcestershire or grill seasoning. But I do like adding steak toppings. I was bored with butters, though, and in the interest of keeping my fridge as condiment-free as possible, I don't have any steak sauce. So I finally decided to take the plunge and make chimichurri sauce. And guess what? It was quick, easy, fresh, and I would totally make it again.

All you need is a food processor or blender. Pack it full with a couple cups (about one large bunch) of parsley. Cut off the leaf parts and leave the stems for chicken broth.

Drizzle in some olive oil.

Some red wine vinegar will give the chimichurri a little zip. I feel like vinegar brings out the bright green-ness in fresh produce, too. Crisps it up and whatnot.

A few garlic cloves will give you great garlic breath.

The recipe below says 5-6 garlic cloves, but my store is still selling mammoth garlic cloves, so only used 3.

I like a little spice, so I added some red pepper flakes too. A little fresh jalapeno might be good here instead, to go with the fresh flavors.

Ready to go for a spin. 1, 2, 3, go!

Here's what it looks like after whirring around in the food processor.

I stuck the sauce in the fridge while I prepared the steak. That way, the flavors could mellow and come together.

I also tossed some of the sauce with boiled potatoes. Makes a great side dish.

Here's the steak I'm serving it with. That's what I like to call a Flintstone steak. 4 minutes a side, and it was ready for its green bath!













Add some color to your steak by spooning some chimichurri sauce over the top! Red meat is healthy when you offset it with something green, right? ;)

 Recipe: Chimichurri Sauce

2 c. parsley (1 large bunch)
1/2 c. olive oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp. red pepper flakes


Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Serve over meat or vegetables. Enjoy!

Grilled Ribeyes With Garlic Herb Butter

I love grilled steak, and ribeyes are my favorite cut. They're meaty and tender and have just enough fat to help the beef just melt in your mouth. They taste so good that I really hate to do much with them, in terms of adding additional flavors or seasonings. Here's quick and easy way to get restaurant-style steaks without paying restaurant prices.

The first thing you'll want to do is grab half a stick of butter that has hopefully been sitting out at room temperature for a while. If it's still a little cold, hold it in your hands for a couple minutes, or microwave it for 10 seconds a time to get it soft enough to stir.

Oh, and take your steaks out of the fridge, too. You want to get the chill off of them before throwing them on the grill.

The herbs I used today are chives. I am having a chive explosion in my front yard. It's incredible.

Cut your chives into little bits.

Next nab a couple cloves of garlic.

Mince the garlic into itty bitty bits and throw it, and the chives, in with the butter. Stir everything together. Add some salt and pepper if you like.

Set the butter aside and grab your steaks. Hopefully by now they'll be close to room temperature. I seasoned them pretty simply--they got a drizzling of Worcestershire sauce.

And then a liberal sprinkling of salt and fresh, coarsely ground pepper.

Now send the griller out to grill these bad boys up. About 4 minutes a side should do, if you like a medium/medium-rare steak.

As soon as the steaks are done, slap a big ol' spoonful of butter onto your meat.














The heat from the steak will melt the butter, which in turn will mix with the juices from the meat. You'll have a delightful sauce that will bring out the richness of your steaks. With only a few minutes of prep time, a handful of ingredients, and two beautiful steaks, you've got yourself a restaurant-quality meal for only a portion of the price. How great is that??

Recipe: Grilled Ribeyes With Garlic Herb Butter

2 ribeye steaks
Worcestershire sauce
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh chives
salt and pepper, to taste

Allow the steaks to come to room temperature. Drizzle with Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle with lots of salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, chives, and salt and pepper.

Grill steaks 4 minutes a side for medium/medium-rare. Give each steak a large dollop of garlic herb butter right away. Let butter mix with meat juices while the steak rests. Then dig in!

Firecracker Jalapeno Burgers

Mr. Kim Chee is a big fan of all things hot and spicy. Whenever we go out to eat and I see a burger with peppers, jalapenos, wasabi, or any other kind of spicy thing, there's a pretty big chance he'll order it. I'm not as enamored with heat as he is, but I do love a good burger and am always looking at new ways to dress up ground beef! These jalapeno burgers are spicy enough to suit the iron-tongued person in your life, but are mild enough for the average person to enjoy too.

I used a pound of ground beef; they were pre-formed into patties but I broke them up and mixed the ingredients in with the beef. You could just as easily stuff the patties with the filling.

The heat in these burgers comes from pepperjack cheese and a fresh jalapeno.

I used two slices of presliced cheese. First I cut them into strips.

Then I cubed them, so they were in little pieces.

Next was the jalapeno. I ended up using about half a good-sized jalapeno, and that was perfect; you could most definitely use more, without the jalapeno taking over the overall taste of the burger.

If I'm not using the whole jalapeno, I usually cut the bottom part of the pepper off. I guess I feel like keeping the jalapeno as whole as possible keeps it fresh longer--it also allows me to store the remainder of the pepper with other ingredients, like bell pepper or onion, without worrying that the hotness will rub off on the other veggie. Then I cut the bottom part in half, and scrape out the seeds and membrane, and dice the pepper very finely.

The cheese and jalapenos get thrown in with the ground beef.

For a little more flavor, I added some smoked paprika. Chili powder or Cajun seasoning would be nice additions too, if you have them.

Garlic and onion powders gave some more flavor without adding more wet ingredients (I imagine it would be kind of difficult to keep these in patty form if minced onion and garlic were added.)

And always remember to season your meat with salt and pepper!

To add some moisture (and a little more flavor), I poured in some Worcestershire sauce. I love Worcestershire sauce.

Gently mix the ingredients and form into patties.

Send your significant other out to the grill with these, and start on the real heat--fried jalapenos!

I used jarred jalapenos for these. I saw a recipe that used fresh jalapenos, but I imagine those would be pretty spicy!

The batter for the jalapenos consists of two bowls--a wet bowl and a dry bowl.

The first bowl we'll put together is the dry bowl. It starts with flour.

For texture, I added cornmeal.

Season with salt and pepper.

Garlic powder will add a little accent flavor.

Finally, chili powder will add a smokiness to the batter.

Mix the bowl ingredients together and then get started on your second bowl.

This bowl also starts with flour and cornmeal, although with a slightly different ratio. Buttermilk will turn this bowl into a thick, wet mixture that will stick to your jalapenos. I'll spare you more pictures of white-on-white ingredients and get down to it.

Drain the jalapenos and throw 'em right into the wet mixture.

Then toss them into the dry. Make sure they're well coated.

Caaaarefully drop the breaded jalapeno slices into hot oil (my burner was set a little higher than medium heat.)

Fry until golden brown. Let your fried slices drain on paper towel or newspaper; season with salt if desired.

This batter is great for anything you might want to fry--I picked up some green tomatoes at the market and I sliced them up and tossed them in to fry. If you like fried pickles, whole jalapenos, or any other condiment, I say go for it!





By this time, your burgers should be hot off the grill. I meant to melt a slice of pepperjack cheese over the top, but forgot to send Mr. Kim Chee out with the cheese. If you remember, go for it! Pile everything together and enjoy the tingling sensation that only a jalapeno can give!

Recipe: Firecracker Jalapeno Burgers

Burgers:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 slices pepperjack cheese
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
pepperjack cheese

Jalapeno Slices:
Bowl 1:
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. cornmeal
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Bowl 2:
1/4 c. flour
3 tbsp. cornmeal
salt and pepper, to taste
1 c. buttermilk

pickled jalapenos (the batter recipe should be enough for at least half a large jar)

oil, for frying


Combine all burger ingredients in a bowl. Mix gently and shape into patties. Grill over medium-high heat until cooked to desired doneness.

Bowl 1: Combine all ingredients. Mix well.

Bowl 2: Combine all ingredients. Mix well.

Heat oil over medium heat (about 375F).

Dip jalapenos into bowl 2; coat well. Move to bowl 1; coat well. Carefully drop breaded jalapenos into hot oil; fry for 5-8 minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or newspaper.

Top burgers with jalapeno slices. Serve!



Just a note: Due to vacation that includes little to no Internet access, Kim Chee Casserole will also be on vacation. The blog will be back up and running on Wednesday, July 6. Happy 4th of July everyone!

Garlicky Grilled Corn on the Cob

Corn's coming into season again, and I can't wait! Every year I forget that corn isn't good until later in the summer, and am shocked (shocked, I tell you!) when it doesn't show up at the farmer's market in May and June. I finally had to go pick some up at the grocery store.

What makes this corn great (other than the fact the corn on the cob is totally great on its own) is the butter mixture. It's totally easy to make, too. It starts with half a stick of softened butter.

Then some garlic. Don't worry, it won't be super garlick-y; you'll just get a nice, slightly garlic flavor that tastes especially nice over the grill.

Mince it up into very fine little bits.

Add the garlic to the bowl with the butter, and then sprinkle a bunch of paprika over the top. Smoked paprika would be great here for some extra smoke flavor.

Grab a heavy-duty spoon and stir the butter, garlic, and paprika together.

Here's the corn. Not as pretty as farmstand corn, but it'll do in a pinch. And I was in a pinch. If by pinch, you mean desperately craving corn on the cob and I could not be deterred from buying it at the store.

Shuck any remaining stalks and silks on the corn and then slather the outside of the cob with the butter mixture.

Then add lots of salt and pepper. Don't be afraid of the salt!

Wrap the buttered corn tightly in tinfoil (with the shiny side of the foil out!)

Five ears of corn all nice and wrapped and ready to go!

Grill the corn over medium heat for 30-35 minutes, turning frequently to keep the ears from burning.

These look good already...

Even better!
















How epic are these corn holders? I love them! Almost as much as I love this corn. Try it, you'll love it too.

 Recipe: Garlicky Grilled Corn on the Cob

5 ears corn, shucked
1/4 c. butter, softened
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper, to taste


In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, and paprika. Rub butter mixture over the corn. Season well with salt and pepper.

Roll corn tightly in tinfoil (shiny side out.) Grill over medium heat for 30 minutes, turning frequently.