Chimichurri, and Other Things

I didn't put in the kitchen time this weekend, but there were a few things worth mentioning. Here are a few bullets:

• Have you ever tried chimichurri? It's Argentinian and is sort of a counterpart to pesto. I made this version and found it fabulous. I used it as a marinade for a sliced round steak, and really enjoyed the result.
• As a side note, I'm beginning to accumulate a lengthy list of foods I've prepared without ever having them as prepared by somebody that knew what they were doing. Chimichurri is just the latest example.
• A pizza place in my area does a cheeseburger pizza I've enjoyed, and I decided to try one on my own. I cooked up some ground beef and made a sauce from catsup and mustard. The pizza, which also included a few pickles and some cheese, was pretty good. I could have been more heavy with the sauce, which I'd applied lightly because I was a little afraid of the mustard dominating the flavor.
• I used the food grinder attachment for my mixer to take a first shot at making sausage. I made an Italian sausage which I did not put into casings. The result was okay, if a little dry when cooked into patties, but I had some problems. I'll write more about sausage making at some point. 
• I made another attempt in the great tomato sauce quest I mentioned in my last post.  This version featured anchovy paste (I'll use less next time) and the soaking water from reconstituting shitake mushrooms. I even wrote down what I was putting in! The sauce was pretty good, but I'm not home yet.
• Tonight, I used the hamburger left over from the pizza, the rest of my sausage, and some of my sauce to make an un-lasagna casserole. I also put in whole wheat pasta, the mushrooms I'd soaked earlier, and several cheeses. It's very good, the tastiest thing I made this weekend.  (Okay, second tastiest: that chimichurri steak was delicious.) Plus, it's a win because I hadn't needed a recipe to make it.   

Now, quit reading blogs and go make chimichurri sauce! (Hmm...what might a chimichurri chimichanga be like?)