Jimmy McCurry

You start thinkin' your a 'cook' and then someone comes to work with the best Chimichurri sauce you've ever tasted and then suddenly you realize, you are just another woman that can make a couple of dishes and that is ALL SHE WROTE - end of story, BOOM!

I was eating lunch at work and someone was passing around this amazing dark green concoction that turned out to be chimichurri and it was too great. I have to make it. I had been meaning to try it as a marinade but never got to it. Maybe its not that hard but maybe it is. I mean, not hard to make but hard to get just right. There are several variations and it may be like a salsa, even though its the same simple ingredients, its the little things you do that make the difference.

The woman who made it knew it was the best. By her description of how she made it I could tell she was a real lover of food. Her food had soul. She gave me her recipe and a few little secrets she used. She put a very small amount of boiled water to 'cook' the garlic and release the aroma in the spices at the very end. I love when a cook reveals a secret because really, why keep it to yourself when so many others could enjoy the difference it makes? No one owns recipes really. Its all been done before hasn't it? If you look up almost anything there are hundreds of web recipes written out with pics and reviews. (Except my mom's enchilada sauce recipe of course). But its that soul and love in the making and the mixing and the adding that makes the actual difference and makes it just right.

Fun Fact: I don't know if its true but they say the name might have come from this Irishman named Jimmy McCurry who originally made the recipe for the people of Uruguay but they had trouble pronouncing his name so it became Chimichurri. Isn't that funny?

Update: made the 'churri tonight and the old bird just might have some game left up her sleeve. Now I'm feeling a little under the weather tonight so I didn't hand chop everything like she said to do, so using the blender it imulsified with the olive oil and its a bright lime green but it tastes great. I'm marinating my steak with 1/2 of it and the rest I'll serve alongside. Not sure what I'll serve it with yet, maybe a jasmine rice and leafy green.