Sauces of the Liberator (on toast)

Simón Bolívar dreamt that one day the entire American continent from Mexico to Paraguay would be one country: a Latin America with no borders that was united and totally free from foreign control. While we all know that the latest and greatest champs of ‘sans border’ mentality hang in Washington, we thought we’d pay tribute to Senior Simón (aka The Liberator) with these two sauces from twin countries: Argentina, and Chile.
Pebre is the condiment in Chile, eaten on everything. Chimichurri is traditionally a steak sauce and usually only shows up here at a few Argentinean grills, or on the snotty menus of “super original” high-end steak houses on the Westside. Unite these two dormant bro’s in your kitchen. They are for the people.
Chimichurri
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 2 lemons
2 Tbs. red chili flakes
3 jalapeños
4 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juice only
1 packed cup parsley
4 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
1 Tbs salt
2 Tbs. ground black pepper
1. In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive oil on the lowest flame you can muster, while you zest the lemons. Add the lemon zest and the chili flakes and gently simmer. After 20 minutes–the perfect amount of time to make pebre–remove the oil from the flame and cool in your fridge.
2. Place the jalapeños on your burner one at a time over a full flame, turning occasionally to blacken every side of each pepper. When completely black, place all three peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for ten minutes. After that the skin should come off very easily. Chop one jalapeno and reserve the other two for your pebre. Skin and quarter the garlic and shallots. Place the shallots, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and blend into oblivion. Add the now cool, infused oil to the mixture in a slow, steady stream while blending continuously, to emulsify.
Pebre
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
The juice of two lemons
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 roasted jalapenos chopped (deseeded if needed)
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. ground black pepper
1. In a large bowl mix all ingredients in order of appearance.
Both sauces will keep well for three days refrigerated in a sealed container. They will grow more intense and amazing with each hour they sit in your fridge. Serve each sauce on toast with sliced heirloom tomatoes or as a condiment for eggs, cheese, pizza, or salad….or just eat ’em with a spoon.
Beverage: A spicy Malbec variety wine
Soundtrack: Buene Vista Social Club’s self-titled