Chimichicken Bacon Ranch Sandwich

I had a lot of leftovers from the various things I'd cooked up and found a fantastic way to make another savory treat.
Delicious grilled chicken? Crispy Bacon? Chimichurri Ranch? A nice winter afternoon grilling session?
Let's kick this thing off.

1 panino roll
1 raw chicken breast
3 pieces bacon
2 oz cheese (I used the Smoked Peppercorn White Cheddar)
1 tbsp chimichurri
3 tbsp buttermilk ranch
lettuce
tomato
salt and pepper

Get a grill fired up!

I prefer thinner pieces of chicken on a sandwich, so I filleted the chicken breast into 2 pieces. I then hit both sides of both pieces with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Mix up the chimichurri and ranch. Grate the cheese. Slice the bun.

Toss the chicken on when the grill is plenty fiery.

When the chicken is ready to be flipped, do it! At this point you should also add the bacon to the grill, top the flipped chicken with the cheese(might need to wait a bit if you don't fillet the chicken breast), and put the bun on the grill. Flip the bacon after a minute or two. Add the chimichurri ranch to the top bun after it's toasted.

Build that beast and enjoy!

Seared Hawaiian Ahi Tuna with Argentinian Chimichurri

I have wanted to make a chimichurri for quite some time. With no idea for dinner, tonight was the perfect opportunity. The internet seemed to have quite the chimichurri conundrum... to cilantro or not to cilantro. It seems it ends up in a lot of recipes even though it is distinctly not in the original Argentinian variety. I'm no cilantro hater, I like it in general, but decided to stick traditional. I based the recipe off the one found on the userealbutter blog, but had to make some changes when the end result was more oily than I would have liked.

2 bunches flat leaf parsley, minced

10 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons red chili flakes

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Chop it all up and add it together.

Mix it up and let it sit for at least 3 hours.

I chose not to buy the tuna steaks from the grocery store, so I headed down to Olympia Seafood Company to pick some up there. What a fantastic choice that was. They had fresh hawaiian ahi tuna steaks, but not that were quite the size I wanted. The woman went back to their fridge and pulled out a huge chunk of tuna to cut me off a steak. She sized it perfectly and explained they had picked up the tuna from the airport that very morning and told me that if I'm going to cook it at all, don't overdo it. She went so far as to describe the perfect way to cook a piece of tuna such as this is to "threaten it".

I hit it with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil. Put it on the smoking hot grill for around a minute on each side, sliced and served it up with the chimichurri down the center. 

Almost certainly the best tuna I've had in my life. The hint of flavor from the grill, the incredible fresh tuna taste, and the delightful spice from the chimichurri. Can't be beat.