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INGREDIENTS FOR THE RUB
1-½ LB flank steak
Salt, about 1 TBSP
Pepper, about 1 TBSP
Olive Oil, about ½ cup

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE
2/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup Spanish vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 cups fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 cups fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 TSP ground coriander
1-½ TSP kosher salt
½ TSP pepper
¼ TSP cayenne
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

At least an hour before grilling, generously coat steak with salt, pepper and olive oil and let marinate.

Put all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend ‘em together. Grill steak over medium heat until desired doneness, about 5 minutes each side. Remove steak from grill, thinly slice steak and fan pieces onto plate. Serve sauce on the side or spooned over the steak.

This recipe is inspired by an Argentinian recipe from my father-in-law. The flank steak by itself is going to be juicy and very tasty, especially if you let it marinate for at least an hour with the salt and pepper. But when you add the chimichurri sauce, it takes that tasty flank steak to a whole ‘nother level. I love the kick from the garlic and cilantro in this sauce. If you look at the ingredients, it’s a pretty healthy option if you are a sauce-on-your-steak kind of person like I am. Many sauces have a high amount of fat from cream or sodium from beef stock. This sauce, however, does not. It’s olive oil and some veggies. And it’s so darn good.

To pair with this recipe I wouldn’t go with a big high alcohol red wine like Cabernet, Zinfandel or Shiraz. I’d take it down a notch on the intensity scale and opt for something like a Merlot, Meritage blend or a lower alcohol Cabernet that’s not going to overpower the steak. When you have a cream sauce, yes, bring out the big boys. This is a bit more refined. You’ll find the garlic in the sauce plays on your palate with a little Jackie Chan kick, but there’s no sweetness in this recipe. So offset that by serving a wine that makes up for that lack of sweetness. Something “jammy” will have the sweetness from fruit you’re looking for. Since this is a recipe from Argentina, why not an Argentina wine?
Bodegas Weinert was Wine&Spirits winery of the year with good reason. The Weinert family has been making exceptional wines for nearly thirty years, including their Estrella Malbec, which was aged in oak for over twenty years. For this recipe I’d recommend the Weinert Carrascal Red Blend. It sells for about $12 here and is an exceptional blend of 55% Malbec, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot.

The flavor intensity on the recipe is probably a 7 or 8. The flavor intensity on the wine is around a 7. It’s very stylish without being over the top (or over powering the food). They use a similar kind of oak as the Montes Alpha Merlot from Chile or Cougar Crest wines from Walla Walla. You get some sweet vanilla from a certain kind of oak depending on how much each winery uses. Enjoy, and hit me back with any good stories. Cheers!

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