While some families return to church on Easter Sunday, we go to the beach at Smith Point. Some years it rains or it's cold or it's windy. Last year, it was windy and sunny and cool so my aunt and I look like a couple of shipwrecked Eskimos.
I love Easter. I love being with my aunt and uncle and playing cards and drinking possibly a little too much wine and spending lots of time cooking and eating. I love that Brian was swept right into this family tradition and enjoys it just as much as I do. I love that for three solid days I do not watch TV, or check email, or log into Facebook. In fact, I so completely check out on the outside noise constantly pounding us (of course, we do invite it), that I am then able to check in with myself. I catch up on sleep. I read. Remember reading? Doesn't it seem like such a luxury?
I am sad to leave this utopia behind and return to everyday life, but coming home this year brought unexpected pleasures. We did not move into our house last year until the beginning of summer so we had no idea what spring would bring. Monday morning, though, we awoke to lots of daffodils and a pear tree just about to bud, and verdant grass.
In the foods we eat, spring also seems to bring green to the plate with asparagus and lettuces and my green sauce. When I posted the recipe for flank steak I promised augmentations. I developed a sauce for the meat that is a hybrid of salsa verde and chimichurri sauce (the Argentinian sauce of parsley and cilantro and chile-inflected heat that is served with beef). While this would be great with meat, it also would be quite lovely with brown rice or potatoes. The base needs to be on the mild side because the sauce has a bit of acidity and sourness which requires a counterbalance.
MOLLY'S GREEN SAUCE
Makes ~ 1 1/2 cups
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 small jalapeno, stemmed and seeded, ribs removed
3/4 cup cilantro leaves, washed of sand and loosely packed
3/4 cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves, washed of sand and loosely packed
1 lime, juiced
pinch of kosher salt
1 anchovy packed in oil, drained
2/3 - 3/4 cup olive oil, extra virgin preferably
1/4 t. red hot pepper flakes (you may double this amount if you like KICK in your sauce)
1/2 t. dried oregano
Blend in a food processor until smooth. The amount of oil depends on how thick or thin you want the sauce. If you want it a bit thicker, add less oil. If you want it thinner, add more oil. If your lime seems a little on the dry side and did not produce much juice, then use two limes. The key to a good sauce is tasting as you go, so before you add more of a particular ingredient, taste it first and determine if it needs more. This sauce is most potent on the day it is made and then mellows with time. It will keep 7-10 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
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