Steak Chimichurri

We love to barbecue in the summer, it keeps the heat of cooking outside and most importantly grilled food has that caramel, flame, and smoke flavor. For years my kids thought there was only one flavor of steak and that was Teriyaki.  Truth is there are many wonderful flavors in the grilling universe and it is time to raise the bar on flavor.  Chimichurri is herbaceous, garlic, and acidic, a taste very exciting to the palate and if you have guests, they will love it.  Serve it with grilled vegetables and an assortment of cold salads and grilled corn on the cob.   ^[1]

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup sherry wine vinegar

3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

2 cups flat leaf parsley, washed, dried, minced

½ cup fresh oregano, washed, dried, minced

1 cup fresh cilantro, washed, dried, minced

1 cup fresh mint, washed, dried, minced

12 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

2 shallots minced

1 Jalapeño pepper, minced

Fresh ground black pepper

Sea salt

6 thick cut Spencer steaks

^[2]Combine all ingredients, except steak, in a glass bowl. Use the back of a soup spoon to mash them together a bit and stir. Place one half of the marinade in a heavy duty sealable plastic bag.  Place steaks in the same bag.  Seal bag and toss steaks and marinade around until all is well coated.  Place bag on a plate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, turning occasionally.  Reserve the other half of the marinade in the refrigerator, covered, to serve with steak as sauce after it is grilled. ^[3]

^[4]Preheat barbecue grill on high for at least 15 minutes.  Scrape and grease the grill surface.  ^[5] Place steaks on the hottest portion and cover grill.  After 2 minutes, give a half turn with a tong to each steak. Cover and again after one minute, turn steak over using a tong.  Never pierce steak with a fork.  After one more minute give steak another half turn and after one final minute if steak is your desired degree of doneness remove from grill or if you like steak more cooked place steak on a cooler section of the grill to finish cooking to your desired degree.  As you remove steaks from grill place them on a platter, and let them rest for 10 minutes before carving or serving.  Pass the Chimichurri sauce separately. ^[6]