Feast

Yesterday I filled you in on what we drank, Malbec of course, today I'll fill you in on what filled us up. Argentine food.....Yum!

What is Argentine food you may ask. It is anything with meat. When we were "working" in Argentina checking out the Mendozan Malbecs, all we could find plentiful was meat. Meat, meat and more meat. My diet consisted of an asado dinner around 11 pm and a bottle and half of wine daily. Yes, me alone, almost two bottles of wine. I didn't eat a true Asado every night, I could't stomach it.

A true Argentine Asado is unique. It consists of things we don't eat here.....well unless we're from my original familial roots in the back woods of Kentucky. Normally, they'll bring out a mini-Hibachi grill to your table filled with meat. I mean stacked high. Then you try to guess what you're eating. It's not clear because the names of the meats are different than here...and in Spanish.

The Asado or BBQ consists of:

- Various sausages ranging from chorizo to bratwurst-like. Good stuff.

- Blood sausage. This is terrible both hot or cold. I continue to try it and continue to hold down a gag each time. I think the worse thing for me is the consistency of it.....oh and the smell.

- Small intestine. This is tasty for the first 2 seconds after you take it from the grill. After that, gag me. It tastes kind of rubbery, salty with a liver-like consistency.

- Large intestine. Completely inedible. Tried it the first time and had to spit it out. Very rubbery, bad smell, horrible consistency.

- Pancreas Gland. Kind of yummy if you don't think about it. Cut it into small pieces, we're talking small. Leave the gland on the grill because it needs to be hot. It's not too big so by the time I got the gag factor, I had eaten it all. Consistency of fried chicken livers. Decent salty smell.

- Kidney. Can't eat it. Looks horrible and smells worse.

- Tripe. For those of you that don't know, it is the 1st of three cow stomachs. Tripe is super rubbery with little suction cup looking internals. If you are forced to eat it at gun point, request it fried. I had it boiled one time in an Italian restaurant in NYC and got sick right there at the table. Remember, fried.

- Lomo. Yummy. Delicious. Can't get enough of it. Mecca.

- Vacio. Super yummy. The second time I had an Asado I asked for all Vacio. No dice.

So if someone offers you a real Argentine BBQ, be ready to fake a stomach ailment. Of course, saying your doctor allows you to eat the last two.

The Friday feast was not authentic but was very tasty anyway.

We had shrimp and chorizo baked empanadas with grapes, cheeses, bread and oil. Empanadas are the staple of the Argentine people. The parties I went to in Argentina and Chile always started with empanadas. The guests always were so excited to see them that you'd think they had never had them before but heard so much about their goodness. One older gentleman was trying to school me on the beauty of empanadas, stating also their medicinal qualities. Hmmm.

Next we go to the main course, asado. This asado had chorizo, lomo, vacio, pollo (chicken) in a yummy chimichuri sauce. Besides the fact that I always feel so whimsical saying chimichuri (go ahead say it, you'll know what I mean), the sauce is really tasty. I posted the recipe Kenny used , with his own Kenny touches, below.

The two sides were fresh roasted chile polenta and a colorful vegie salad with black beans, corn, purple onion, roasted red and yellow peppers, and peaches on a bed of greens.

For dessert, there was raspberry tart. It's not Argentine but it's SO good. The recipe is from this Provence cookbook. The crust is to die for. I'm not a big crust fan. Like how much I'm not a big crust fan is I don't eat the pizza crust unless I'm starving..literally. This crust smells and IS heavenly. With yummy, full of calories filling on top of the crust. Eventually topped with fresh raspberries. I could eat a whole one by myself, crust ends and all.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Chimichurri Sauce

parsley 4 cups minced

garlic clove 5 diced
oregano 1/2 tsp

red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp

cumin seed 1 1/2 tsp

paprika 1/2 tsp

salt 1 tsp to taste

black pepper 1 tsp to taste

bay leaf 1

olive oil 1/2 cup

canola oil 1/4 cup

balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup

red wine vinegar 1 cup

Kenny's magic proprietary ingredients

Mix all together in a food processor. You can marinade or just brush it on and put it on the grill.