How to make Rich Table Chimichurri and Steak

Back to the Rich Table cookbook! I love a good steak as much as anyone else but normally keep it pretty plain aside from maybe some caramelized shallots or onions, so I figured we could give this chimichurri a try.

If you are not familiar, chimichurri is an Argentine uncooked sauce used as a condiment and for cooking.

For this recipe, I did not follow the Rich Table guide lines for cooking the steak because they use a grill, which I do not have. I also enjoy cooking my steak briefly on the stove top, and then finished in the oven to ensure the correct doneness. So I will talk about I cook steaks in that section. I also, for what ever reason, just had some trouble with the chimichurri. I did not have espelette pepper laying around, so I substituted Cayenne, which is says to do, but I put in way too much. so that sucked. I also do not have Wondra flour, which is instant flour, for frying, and the shallots came out pretty terrible even though it says to fry for 5-6 minutes. I think mine were completely burned at the 2 minute mark.

But anyways, lets get cooking on the ingredients –

Ingredients –

Steak –

Favorite cut of steak – I chose a filet mignon, Rich Table said to use New York strips

Chimichurri –

Finely chopped shallots – 1/4 cup, plus another whole shallot peeled
Champagne Vinegar – 1/4 cup
Garlic clove – peeled
Espelette pepper – 1tsp – OR Cayenne pepper – 1/4tsp
Fresh cilantro – 1 cup – minced
Fresh green beans – 1 cup – finely chopped – this takes a good amount of time btw
Olive oil – 1 cup
Fresh parsley – 1/2 cup
Salt

Fried Shallots –

Shallots – 1 cup – thinly sliced into rings – this is a shit ton of shallots btw
Wondra flour – 1/4 cup (instant flour)
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt

Step 1 – Temper the steaks

Take the steaks out of the fridge, season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Leave out for atleast an hour before going to cook the steaks to ensure they are at room temperature.

This also does not have to step 1 in your cooking, just always keep this in mind when cooking and make sure to bring the steaks to room temp.

Step 2 – Chimichurri

Combine the chopped shallots and vinegar, let sit for 30 minutes. Strain, reserve the oil and shallots separately.

In the book they use a mortal and pestle to make a garlic and shallot paste, but I don’t have that so we had to get a little clever. If you do have a mortal and pestle, smash the garlic and peeled shallot into a paste. If you do not, finely chop both, and smash down with the side of your knife until the best paste like substance you can get. Transfer that to a bowl, mix in the cayenne, reserved shallots, cilantro, green beans, olive oil, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and the reserved vinegar. Once the vinegar has been added, it should be used within 2 hours.

Step 3 – Fry the shallots

Heat oil to 350. In a medium bowl, toss the shallot rings into the flour, shake off any excess flour and transfer to a plate.

When up to temperature, add the shallots and carefully stir to prevent them from sticking together.

Here is where I kind of call bullshit. It says at 350, to fry shallots for 5-6 minutes. Mine were complete burned after 2 minutes and I pulled them pretty quick. So if anyone out there is frying shallots at that temp for 5-6 minutes, please let me know your ways.

Step 4 – Cook the steaks

There are many good ways to cook a steak, but I prefer starting it on the stove, and finishing it in the oven. It’s pretty hard to really over cook this way. Pre heat your oven to 350, heat a pan with canola oil over high heat.

If the steak is of proper thickness of an little more than an inch, sear for about 2 minutes on each side. After the first two minutes, flip and continue on the other side. Once the second 2 minutes is up, transfer to the oven for 6-7 minutes for medium rare.

Let sit for 10 minutes to retain all the juices.

Step 5 – Serve

Generously serve the steaks with the chimichurri and shallots (if only I had some)

And for the ratings –

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 3/5 stars – Probably a normal trip to the store will do
Perceived difficulty going into the recipe – 3/5 stars – Steak and a sauce essentially, nothing too difficult going on
Difficulty after the recipe – 3/5 stars – nothing too bad, but a steak always requires execution on cooking
Time taken – 3/5 stars – less than 2 hours
Taste – 3.5/5 stars – I was a little disappointed by the chimichurri to be honest,
Make again? – 2/5 stars – it was okay, probably not