My first encounter with this dish was in a Nicaraguan steak house in Miami. The citrus-marinated steak with its beautiful green sauce just blew me away. Making the Chimichurri Sauce—a Latin version of pesto—takes no time, so you could easily fit this into your after-work grilling repertoire.

　　

Ingredients

feeds 4

　　

The Steak

4 strip steaks (10 to 12 ounces each)

　　1 cup Mojito Marinade (page 164)

　　

The Sauce

1 medium bunch fresh Italian parsley

　　10 to 12 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

　　3 to 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

　　1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

　　

Step 1

Get up early in the morning and remove the bootstrap tendon sometimes found on the outside edge of the steaks, so they won’t curl when you cook them. Pour on the marinade and let them soak up flavor all day.

　　

Step 2

Whip up a batch of sauce. Pick off the parsley leaves to make a packed cup. Toss them in a processor or blender with the garlic, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt, cumin, and oregano. Process to a paste, scraping down the workbowl several times. With the processor running, slowly dribble in the olive oil til fully blended. Taste and fix up the seasonings. Set aside.

　　

Step 3

Fire up the grill. Take the steaks out of the marinade and pat dry. Grill over hot coals til medium-rare (see page 34). When they’re done, pull them off the grill and throw them on some plates. While they’re still sizzling, spoon some sauce over each steak and let the flavors and aromas blow your mind.

　　Dinosaur Bar-B-QueTen Speed Press