I've always told my wife if she sees a hunk of meat for a good price at the grocery store just buy it and don't worry about what it actually is. I'll figure out how to cook it. I usually get about 2 surprises a year and this week was one of them. She brought home a 2 1/2 lb Brazilian picanha steak. Admittedly I had never even heard of it before so a bit of research revealed this was the cap of the top sirloin. Also referred to as the rump cap in some butchers. Leaving the fat cap on it makes it a picanha cut.
Reading how it's done authentically it's sliced thick, salted with rock salt, skewered and grilled over indirect heat. I didn't have rock salt so I used kosher salt and I could not resist adding crushed black pepper but I did resist any further seasoning. That fat cap is scored in a cross hatch pattern similar to a ham, rub that salt and pepper in there good.
I let the meat soak in the seasoning on the counter for about 40 minutes while I made a chimmichurri. I recently learned about this South American "grilled meat dressing" and I have to say I regret the amount of grilled meat I've eaten without it. This is my third batch and it's fairly simple to make. I haven't used the same pepper twice, I want to use a thai chili but I haven't found one available yet. First time I used a serrano, then a jalapeno and this time I found a yellow manzano pepper (another first!) this one was spicier than the 2 former batches so this manzano brings a little heat to the party.
Chimichurri recipe
(4) cloves finely minced garlic
(1) shallot, finely minced
(1) manzano pepper, finely chopped (sub any type of pepper here or you can even skip)
(1) bundle of parsely, finely chopped (I try to avoid a lot of the stems and get mostly leaves)
1/2 bundle of cilantro, finely chopped (again I avoid the majority of stems) - this could also be skipped if you're not a cilantro fan
1/2 cup of virgin or extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
A little less than 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt (1 teaspoon was a little too much on batch 1)
-mix it all up and let rest for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to combine (note: if you put it in the fridge the oil will congeal and you'll want to allow it to come to room temp before serving)
I used Cowboy lump charcoal, oak and hickory. 1 chimney full set to one side and cooked on the other side of my kettle. It took about 25 minutes to get to 130 degrees IT and I rested for 5 minutes before slicing cross grain to serve. Delicious! Will do this again, right after I buy a real all metal skewer so I don't have to re-purpose a marshmallow roasting stick. Hope you enjoy the Q-view.
Heart shaped! For valentine's day?
Skewered - fat cap out and grilling
resting and looking delicious
sliced
Ready for consumption
Reading how it's done authentically it's sliced thick, salted with rock salt, skewered and grilled over indirect heat. I didn't have rock salt so I used kosher salt and I could not resist adding crushed black pepper but I did resist any further seasoning. That fat cap is scored in a cross hatch pattern similar to a ham, rub that salt and pepper in there good.
I let the meat soak in the seasoning on the counter for about 40 minutes while I made a chimmichurri. I recently learned about this South American "grilled meat dressing" and I have to say I regret the amount of grilled meat I've eaten without it. This is my third batch and it's fairly simple to make. I haven't used the same pepper twice, I want to use a thai chili but I haven't found one available yet. First time I used a serrano, then a jalapeno and this time I found a yellow manzano pepper (another first!) this one was spicier than the 2 former batches so this manzano brings a little heat to the party.
Chimichurri recipe
(4) cloves finely minced garlic
(1) shallot, finely minced
(1) manzano pepper, finely chopped (sub any type of pepper here or you can even skip)
(1) bundle of parsely, finely chopped (I try to avoid a lot of the stems and get mostly leaves)
1/2 bundle of cilantro, finely chopped (again I avoid the majority of stems) - this could also be skipped if you're not a cilantro fan
1/2 cup of virgin or extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
A little less than 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt (1 teaspoon was a little too much on batch 1)
-mix it all up and let rest for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to combine (note: if you put it in the fridge the oil will congeal and you'll want to allow it to come to room temp before serving)
I used Cowboy lump charcoal, oak and hickory. 1 chimney full set to one side and cooked on the other side of my kettle. It took about 25 minutes to get to 130 degrees IT and I rested for 5 minutes before slicing cross grain to serve. Delicious! Will do this again, right after I buy a real all metal skewer so I don't have to re-purpose a marshmallow roasting stick. Hope you enjoy the Q-view.
Heart shaped! For valentine's day?
Skewered - fat cap out and grilling
resting and looking delicious
sliced
Ready for consumption
