Ok- for those of you clicking on here expecting to see a post from Argentina (I wish!) or an asado then you will be disappointed but bear with me. We have been watching the Cook Abroad series on the BBC- we are a little behind the actual broadcasts but it is on iplayer - and last week we saw John Torode in Argentina. Before the episode had even ended, in fact about 5minutes in, we knew that steak was going to be on the menu for the weekend. I have mentioned before my willingness to take a theme and run with it for food, so in addition to the steak we decided to make our own chimichurri sauce to accompany it, have empanadas to start and some sort of dulce de leche pudding. All we needed now was the barbecue element. Landrover and this winter's #hibernot campaign then came to mind (yes we regularly think about/discuss/fantasize about the Landrover of our dreams... another post another time!) and we decided to acquire a barbecue and go for it weather whatever, ok to be fair we checked it was due to be dry as barbecuing under golf umbrellas is a pain!
Planning done when the weekend came around it was time to instigate it. Now I admit that we cheated on the empanadas as M&S do some lovely ready made ones in their snacks/deli section. We also needed a sweet milky pudding and it is impossible to resist buying the Billionaires Dessert when in M&S so in that went too. Luckily Sainsbury's are already selling disposable BBQs so that solved that dilemma.
The evening started with empanadas (which I forgot to photo as I was busy eating them) and a glass of caiprinha. Although this is really a Brazilian drink it is the same continent, so that counts right? These have been hit and miss in the past, but this time we made our own sugar syrup beforehand and it was much better. We did a simple 1:1 ratio of caster sugar and water and gave it a good shake. We also added some mint into ours for a caiprinha-mojito vibe. It worked!
Then it was on to the chimichurri. We ended up with 2 versions of this. The first we did with fresh parsley, dried oregano, garlic, chilli, vinegar and oil however Mr Owl was not pleased. He claimed the gauchos would use dried parsley and so a second batch was whipped up. Personally I preferred the fresh parsley version but I think this is a sauce that will only improve with practice. The dried one is at the front in the below shot.
Finally after all the prep it was time for the steaks themselves. We had lit the BBQ earlier so it was lovely and hot and the steaks were seasoned and oiled. There was something quite exciting about standing outside the in the dark (with a drink) while they cooked away. I am sure the neighbours must have though we were mad, but we had fun. To accompany the steak we did 'special potatoes' (par boiled potatoes fried with onion and garlic) and corn on the cob also finished on the BBQ for that smoky flavour. The whole thing was a complete success and tasted fantastic. It was extra special to be outside in the dark looking at the stars while everything cooked. I now plan to get a big chiminea or fire pit that we can use to keep warm so we can make more of being outdoors even during the colder darker months. It was really invigorating to be outside in the fresh air and am sure it helped us sleep better, or was that the bottle of Argentinian Malbec?! #Hibernot may be a marketing campaign but that doesn't mean that we don't benefit from actually doing it! This weekend is the equinox and if we didn't already have plans then I think we would be doing it all over again to celebrate!
Planning done when the weekend came around it was time to instigate it. Now I admit that we cheated on the empanadas as M&S do some lovely ready made ones in their snacks/deli section. We also needed a sweet milky pudding and it is impossible to resist buying the Billionaires Dessert when in M&S so in that went too. Luckily Sainsbury's are already selling disposable BBQs so that solved that dilemma.
The evening started with empanadas (which I forgot to photo as I was busy eating them) and a glass of caiprinha. Although this is really a Brazilian drink it is the same continent, so that counts right? These have been hit and miss in the past, but this time we made our own sugar syrup beforehand and it was much better. We did a simple 1:1 ratio of caster sugar and water and gave it a good shake. We also added some mint into ours for a caiprinha-mojito vibe. It worked!
Then it was on to the chimichurri. We ended up with 2 versions of this. The first we did with fresh parsley, dried oregano, garlic, chilli, vinegar and oil however Mr Owl was not pleased. He claimed the gauchos would use dried parsley and so a second batch was whipped up. Personally I preferred the fresh parsley version but I think this is a sauce that will only improve with practice. The dried one is at the front in the below shot.
Finally after all the prep it was time for the steaks themselves. We had lit the BBQ earlier so it was lovely and hot and the steaks were seasoned and oiled. There was something quite exciting about standing outside the in the dark (with a drink) while they cooked away. I am sure the neighbours must have though we were mad, but we had fun. To accompany the steak we did 'special potatoes' (par boiled potatoes fried with onion and garlic) and corn on the cob also finished on the BBQ for that smoky flavour. The whole thing was a complete success and tasted fantastic. It was extra special to be outside in the dark looking at the stars while everything cooked. I now plan to get a big chiminea or fire pit that we can use to keep warm so we can make more of being outdoors even during the colder darker months. It was really invigorating to be outside in the fresh air and am sure it helped us sleep better, or was that the bottle of Argentinian Malbec?! #Hibernot may be a marketing campaign but that doesn't mean that we don't benefit from actually doing it! This weekend is the equinox and if we didn't already have plans then I think we would be doing it all over again to celebrate!
Little Owl
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