Cook The Book: Churrascaria Marinated Steaks with Chile-Lime Sauce
The word churrascaria comes from churrasco, the Portuguese term for barbecue. Churrascaria restaurants are popular in Brazil, though they can be more than a little overwhelming for unsuspecting tourists. Diners can literally eat for hours, as passadores (special meat waiters) circle the tables carrying long rotisserie skewers called rodizios laden with grilled beef. The only way to stop the proceedings is to wave a small white flag or red disk, signaling to servers that you're finally full.
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from The Best Barbecue on Earth by Rick Browne, is for churrascaria marinated steaks with chile-lime sauce. The grills used at traditional churrascaria restaurants vary in size from eight-foot tall rotisserie racks, to enormous concrete pits where the meat is hung from steel rods, to simple earthen pits with wooden logs and wooden skewers. Don't quite have the space to accommodate such a massive barbecuing structure? Not to worry. Rick has adapted this recipe for home cooks and everyday backyard grills.
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Churrascaria Marinated Steaks with Chile-Lime Sauce
- makes 4 servings -
adapted from The Best Barbecue on Earth by Rick Browne
Ingredients
5 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 teaspoons kosher or flake salt
2 white onions, chopped
12 cloves garlic, chopped
4 (1/2 pound sirloin steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes)
1/3 cup dry red wine
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup loosely packed coarsely chopped Italian parsley
Procedure
1. Combine the jalapeños, 1 teaspoon of the salt, half the onions, and one-third of the garlic in a blender or food processor, and process until a paste is formed. You’ll have about 1/2 cup. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Place the steaks in a large baking dish. Mince the remaining onion and garlic. In a bowl, whisk together the lime juice, wine, minced onion and garlic, oregano, bay leaf, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Pour the marinade over the steaks, turning to coat each steak evenly. Cover and refrigerate, turning every couple of hours, for 4 to 6 hours.
3. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to 450ºF. Make sure the grill rack is clean and oil it thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Remove the jalapeño-onion-garlic sauce from the refrigerator and set aside to bring to room temperature.
5. Remove the steaks from the marinade and wipe off the excess. Transfer the steaks to the grill over direct heat, and cook for five to six minutes per side, to an internal temperature of 145ºF for medium-rare.
6. Place steaks on a heated platter, cover with foil, let stand for five minutes. Serve with the sauce.
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3 Comments:
The recipe doesn't include instructions on how to use the 1 cup parsley. I assume it's chopped and mixed with the jalapeno sauce prior to serving, but would appreciate it if the author of the article would confirm.
ChristineW at 1:29PM on 08/18/08
"Rodizio" means a rotation, not a skewer (skewer is "espeto"), and it's used to refers to a type of restaurant that brings its customers a seemingly unending selection of dishes for a set price. In Brasil, it's possible to go out to a restaurant that serves a pasta rodizio, for example. Just thought you might like to know.
The disk/card system to signal satiation seems to be more popular in the U.S., although it does seems to be catching on in Brasil.
LadyMarmalade at 3:40PM on 08/18/08
@ChristineW: Unfortunately it's a mistake on behalf of the publisher, but you're probably right. We're also guessing the parsley gets stirred into the jalapeno sauce.
Erin Zimmer at 3:56PM on 08/18/08