Last Friday Jezabel Careaga of Jezabel’s and Jezabel’s Studio returned to COOK to put on an Argentine family feast. Helping her in the COOK kitchen was her brother Jesus, who said he came all the way from Argentina just for this class! Jezabel joked that she thought her brother travelled to see her, and that was just the start of the jovial family fun. Together the siblings put together a four course feast featuring, among other things, an Argentine staple: choripan, a chorizo sandwich. Learn a thing or two about the cuisine of Argentina, get the details on an end-of-summer party at Jezabel’s Studio, and snag a recipe for Jezabel’s chimichurri!

Here at COOK we love when chefs bring in members of their family to cook with them. An authentic sense of home cooking comes through, with personal stories that show how food is family. That’s exactly how the night started off as Jezabel served guests her grandmother’s pickled eggplant on a crostini smeared with turmeric aioli.

Chimichurri Recipe

While everyone was enjoying the eggplant crostini, Jezabel demonstrated how to make her version of chimichurri. If you want to make her chimichurri for yourself at home, it’s simple! Follow Jezabel’s directions and you’ll be able to drizzle a taste of Argentina on anything you want. However, if you are putting it on steak, just know that according to Jezabel, Argentinians don’t do that. Instead, it’s traditional to eat steak plain in order to appreciate the meat’s unadorned, pure and natural flavors. Argentine beef is usually organic and super fresh, so the steak purists don’t want to mess with it. Oh, and another tidbit on Argentina’s food culture – Jesus said he and his friends normally start eating dinner around midnight and they hang out until about 5 AM. So for a true taste of Argentina, serve this chimichurri with dinner when the clock strikes midnight.

Ingredients

• 3 cups olive oil
• 3 bunches of parley, finely minced (approximately 1.5 cups)
• 3-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
• 1 bunch of scallions, finely sliced
• 2/3 stems of rosemary
• 4/5 stems of thyme, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes (or to taste)
• Juice of 2 lemons and 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, if desired
• Additional herbs like oregano or lemongrass are optional

Directions

Heat half of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sliced scallions, rosemary stems and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add parsley, garlic, thyme, chili flakes. Stir and transfer to serving bowl and let it cool off for an hour. Once cooled, add the juice of 2 lemons and it’s ready for serving!

Choripan (Chorizo Sandwich)

After the crostini starter, Jezabel gave guests a taste of true Argentine street food with her choripan. The word choripan is derived from the words chorizo (a popular, spicy Spanish pork sausage) and pan, which simply means bread. This spicy sausage sandwich is commonly served by Argentinian street vendors. Jezabel stated that choripan is most likely what you would eat after leaving a soccer stadium in Argentina. Since Jesus is the GM of a resort ranch in Argentina, he loves grilling. So he got things started with the choripan by grilling off quite a few links of chorizo. The chorizo was finished in the oven and then placed into a roll with the tumeric aioli from earlier. Lastly, Jezabel topped each sandwich with her chimichurri. Guests raved over the choripan, and luckily for them (and you!) Jezabel is hosting an end-of-summer choripan party on Sunday, September 2, 2018, from 4pm to 7pm, and she will be grilling up this exact dish! The event will be at Jezabel’s Studio (208 South 45th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104). Check out the link for tickets and more details.