July 15 – July 21, 2019

Monday:    New Greek Salad

Tuesday – Thursday:  Philly on business

Friday:      Macaroni with Tomato Sauce and Sautéed Shrimp

Saturday:  Grilled Lamb Chops and Peppers with Herb Sauce

Beez, surveying the vast expanse of the Bedford Springs Hotel

Sunday:    10-09 Kitchen

The real news from last week is that Billy proposed to Emily.

And Emily, sweet, tolerant woman that she is, accepted him.

What we cooked pales by comparison.

Beez and I love those two and are very happy for them.

There really isn’t much to show or tell about our cooking last week, as you can see from the sad list above.  This is not the reason that the blog is late, but I generally feel better apologizing for something by beginning with what at least looks like an excuse.  Sorry to impose my psychological quirks on you – but hang in there and you’ll get a really good recipe.

Many weeks ago – well months – the second week of June this year, to be precise, we shared a salad we had created (“Gail’s Salad”) and promised pictures of a steak and a new type of chimichurri for the following week.  Which promise we promptly forgot.

Well, we’re going to make good on it now.  I’m going to skip the steak, presuming that you know how you like to cook your steaks (whether correctly or incorrectly is between you, God, and your dinner guests) and focus on the chimichurri.  This is a sauce for people who can stand some spice and heat.  If you can’t, well, maybe in the next life you’ll be granted a fully functional digestive system.  We’ll pray for you.

This chimichurri is so flavorful it almost hurts to pass it along – I’d rather introduce you to it at our house and earn some cooking cred that way.  Oh, and this would work on any meat, on chicken, on fish, on frittatas and omelets and as a sauce for tacos.

As for last week – I mean, of course, the week before last, since that’s the time lag of this blog.  If that upsets you, consider that, during the colonial period, it took months for news or new laws or tea from London to reach America.  Seems to us that you could stand to learn some patience from those folks.

Where was I?  Oh yes, as for last week, I was away much of the week, and Beez and I left town for a short stay in Bedford Springs on Sunday.  The grilled lamb chops and peppers that we shared with Emily and Billy on Saturday were pretty fine, I thought, but Beez demurred.  And the dinner at the 10-09 Kitchen in Bedford was pretty fine as well, but we didn’t cook it.  But, all in all, I owe you this chimichurri recipe and here it is.

Argentinian Chimichurri

(from Milk Street Magazine, July-August, 2019)

Timing:                15 minutes to make, 25 minutes to cool, 5 minutes to finish

Ingredients:              Makes 1 ½ cups (keeps in refrigerator for a week or so)

¾ cup neutral oil (we used canola)
¼ cup sweet paprika
¼ cup red pepper flakes
¼ cup dried oregano
2 medium garlic cloves, finely grated
½ cup balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt

Cook Sauce:

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine oil paprika, pepper flakes and oregano.  Cook, stirring from time to time until it begins to bubble (maybe 6 minutes or so).  Now remove from the heat and stir in the garlic.  Let cool to room temperature.

Finish Sauce:

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt and stir until the salt dissolves.  This will take some stirring – keep at it.  Slowly whisk in the cooked oil mixture.  Enjoy.