River City Supper Club #7 – A Night in Argentina

River City Supper Club #7 – A Night in Argentina

First of all, let’s talk about changes. One couple had to drop out due to unforeseen circumstances. They are still with us in spirit. And we welcomed a new couple to the fold. So, our food exploration continues…

Now, let’s talk about inspiration. My hubby and I hosted meeting #7 and we focused on Argentina. Why? Three reasons:

1 – Quite a few years ago we were fortunate enough to attend a real Argentinean grill fest in a lovely spot in the Virginia mountains. P is originally from Argentina and he and C had lived there for a while after they finished school. We had a fabulous time and wanted to evoke that feeling for the supper club.

2 – A blog entitled From Argentina with Love. A wonderful site written by a chef transplanted from Colorado to Argentina due to love. During our on-line search for recipes, we came up with the same old tired suggestions, until we ran across this site.

3 – Based on the blog, we discovered Seven Fires Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann with Peter Kaminsky. A great recipe and photography book. All of the menu except for the dessert and aperitif came from this book.

So, we had our inspiration. We now needed a bit of practice. My hubby dug fire pits in the back yard.

We grilled tri-tips and bratwurst, parrilla-style. Most excellent.

And treated ourselves to a 2000 Chateauneuf-du-Pape.



For the big day, the weather gods favored us and we set up tables and chairs outside.

Take a look at the menu:

River City Supper Club - September 12, 2009

Fernet + Coke

Empanadas Mendocinas and Provoleta + Crusty Baguette

Salad: Grapefruit + Arugula + Toasted Hazelnuts

Parrilla: Strip Steak + Tri-Tip + Bratwurst + Chimichurri
Rescoldo: Potato + Onion + Bell Pepper + Sweet Dumpling Squash

Alfajores and Yerba Mate

Fernet is an Italian bitter liqueur that is apparently all the rage in Argentina according to From Argentina with Love. We began the evening with a toast to Argentina, the weather gods, and to intrepid food friends.



To follow the apperitif were empanadas filled with chopped tri-tip, seasoned with hot pepper flakes, smoked paprika, and cumin. To the beef I added chopped egg and green olives. I did cheat a bit and used wonton wrappers instead of making dough, but it was still a big hit. The tiny beef pockets were served with chimichurri sauce.



The Provoleta was basically an inch slice of provolone cheese, sprinkled with oregano and hot pepper flakes and placed in an extremely hot non-stick pan (Mallmann used a cast iron pan or a piece of metal over an open flame). The oil from the cheese leached out and served to brown it. After a couple of minutes I flipped it to brown the other side and then presented the melted gooeyness with crusty bread. Simple, yet yummy.

Next up was a grapefruit salad. The arugula came from Victory Farms. And I successfully roasted and peeled hazelnuts. The dressing consisted of lemon juice, grapefruit juice, and olive oil.



We finished the white wine while the men supervised the coals. For this night we had two fire pits. One for the parrilla or the open-flame grilling of the tri-tips, strip steaks, and bratwursts. The other pit was used for rescoldo: cooking/baking whole veggies in hot coals. All of the vegetables came from various vendors at the South of the James Market. The medium rare beef was divine and although the bratwursts were run-of-the-mill from The Fresh Market, the grilling turned these guys into something extraordinary. While Mallmann shoved veggies straight into the rescoldo, we wrapped them in foil and then shoved them into the coals. I really liked the onions and peppers; the squash was decent; the potatoes were too hard. More chimichurri sauce graced the table and was consumed with everything. Mallmann’s chimichurri sauce was interesting. He began with a salmuera which is salt dissolved into boiling water. This made the sauce a bit thinner than what I had been used to, but it was delicious. He also used equal parts of fresh oregano and parsley.

We ate, we talked, we drank, we conversed some more. Nothing was rushed and there were no lulls. As usual, wine accompanied the courses. Some we provided; others, our guests brought. All were good. The ones that stood out for me included the Trappiche Torrentes – a native white grape and most excellent with the grapefruit salad; Norton Malbec Reserva and Cruz Alta President’s Reserve – both hearty reds that paired well with the beef.

To end the evening we had Alfajores which were cornstarch-based cookies which could be used to make sandwich cookies filled with dulche de leche (thick caramel spread). We brewed Yerba Mate to drink instead of coffee.

A delicious late summer evening.