Ladies and gentlemen, the first of many Steve Roybal Kitchen posts…wahoo!  I used to love to cook, or forced myself to love to cook out of necessity until I met my now husband, who thankfully kicks my ass in the kitchen.  I have almost zero guilt coming home to a delicious, freshly cooked meal because I have the fun task of cleaning the kitchen after…insert shocked-faced emoji here!

All joking aside, he makes a mess, but it’s totally worth it.  I admire his creative mind and sharp tongue (for tasting purposes) when it comes to creating recipes and blending flavors.  He’ll hit the store on his way home, grab random ingredients and then bam…dinner is created.  According to him, the trials aren’t always a slam dunk (he’s going to kill me for writing that), but they are always made with love and taste good to me (earning bonus points back)!

Fast forward to a few months ago where a group of Piner High School buddies came back together for a cooking throw down.  Mike Graves, one of the Graves twins made this chimichuri sauce and paired it with pancetta (Italian bacon) wrapped salmon bites.  I don’t eat salmon EVER, but the chimichuri was to die for.  I swear I could bathe in that sauce and it got Steve’s wheels turning to re-create it.  He must have been patiently waiting for the perfect cut of beef to pair it with and boy did we find it strolling around downtown Healdsburg one Sunday afternoon.  We made a stop at the newly opened Journeyman Meat Co. and were immediately hooked.  This place is a great local go-to for us for specialty butchered meats, home-cured salumis and homemade sausages…all reasonably priced minus their dry-aged case which offers filet mignon steaks for $50 a pop.  I’m sure they taste like butter, but for now we’ll settle for the equally tender hanger steak cut for the bargain deal of $12/lb.

He’s made this dish twice for me now after I bugged him to make another trip to HBG for more hanger steak just yesterday!  Here’s the link to their shop – Buy Journeyman Co. Meats!

So, where did this long-winded post lead you all…well I though it would be fun to share his super not so secret anymore recipe for chimichuri!  Here’s what he had to say about this to-die for, mouth watering, make your eyes roll back in your head sauce…

From the Master Chef himself, “I don’t really use a recipe, I’ve been adding/tasting as I go each time I make this, but it goes something like this”:

• 1 bunch of Italian Parsley
• 1 bunch of chives (the secret ingredient!)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 shallot roughly chopped
• ABOUT 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar (I usually end up adding more towards the end though)
• Salt to taste (I probably use about 1 tbsp) and then
• Add the EVOO as I pulse until I get the consistency I want (not sure what that means!)

He said, “I think that’s about it” so there you have it folks.  Mangia!