Is it a sauce or a marinade?

Well, it’s both. Or as my hubby would answer… “Yes”. If I ever ask two questions in a row… a “is it this or that”, “do you want to go here or there“ question, you can count on him to always just say yes. It drives me crazy and I don’t know why I haven’t totally learned not to do it. That being said, it really is either. You can marinade your meat with this sauce or just spoon it over your food after it‘s cooked. Either way it’s delicious on so many things. Some options are to serve it as a sauce with grilled meat such as this Chili Lime Pork Tenderloin, or it also goes well with steak, chicken, shrimp, fish or kabobs of just about any sort, grilled veggies… Seriously, just about anything grilled would be great with this sauce. You might want to make a double batch.

Cilantro or Parsley?

Pepé and Claude are having another heated debate over whether chimichurri should be made with cilantro or parsley. Some people hate cilantro and think it tastes like soap, so if you’re feeding them, you might to skip the cilantro. But overall, you can either use all cilantro, all parsley or a mix of both. This sauce is very flexible and it’s totally up to you. Sorry Pepé and Claude, but neither of you win that debate.  However, you can still taste victory in the success of this easy and amazing sauce with whichever way you choose to serve it.

Pepé is all ready to blend this up into the best chimichurri you’ve ever had.

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5 from 1 vote

Easy Chimichurri Sauce

This easy and fast sauce or marinade will add another dimension to so many main or side dishes. It’s not just delicious, but very versatile as well. You can substitute or delete many of the ingredient to suit your own tastes.  

Total Time5 mins

Servings: 1 Cup

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Cilantro fresh
• 3 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil extra virgin
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, but don’t blend it so much that you can’t see bits of leaves and other ingredients. Start with the garlic, wine and lemon juice, then add cilantro and other ingredients keeping a good eye not to turn this into a mousse. Store in a jar for a few weeks or until you’ve eaten all of it. It goes great on so many things. Some options are to serve it as a sauce with grilled meat such as this Chili Lime Pork Tenderloin, or it also goes well with steak, chicken, shrimp, fish or kabobs of just about any sort, grilled veggies... Seriously, just about anything grilled would be great with this sauce. You might want to make a double batch.

Notes

Note: You don’t want everything pureed to the point of no texture. You want to see bits of different stuff as well as have some texture.

Pepé Wants to know if it’s Legal to Smoke Turkey? 

Um, well Pepé, it’s not that kind of smoking, so yes, it’s totally legal. We will not be interrupted by the police today. Now, the fire department… Uh… Well, hopefully not. We are just gonna give it some additional flavor by letting the smoke from the wood chips penetrate the turkey. I prefer to use sweeter and/or milder wood chips since turkey has a delicate flavor on it’s own, but feel free to experiment with any flavor you choose. The bags will usually guide you to what type of foods go with those particular wood chips.  I used cherry this time.

Do I recommend rinsing your turkey?

No, I do not. Do you rinse all other meats? No. You don’t. I don’t recommend it because your sure to splash some of that raw poultry water all over the place and you really don’t want raw turkey juice anywhere. The turkey is fine, it’s not dirty and now you have one less thing to do. Besides, who wants to wrestle a 17-20 pound wet and slippery raw turkey?

What to expect?

Aside from a super delicious juicy smoked turkey, you will have more oven space to cook all those sides and desserts. You’ll have many happy guests devouring all that smoky goodness (unless you made this just for yourself, and who could blame you if you did). But, you might not have as much leftover turkey as you would want to make turkey salad or turkey pot pie or turkey soup OK that last one is really chicken pozole soup, but you can obviously sub chicken anywhere there’s a turkey (except on a chicken farm of course – I’m pretty sure a turkey would stand out amongst all those chickens)

Make your own bone broth

You can follow my link here for slow cooker chicken stock (bone broth), or you might want to just boil it in a larger pot on the stove since a turkey carcass is much bigger than that of a chicken. 

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Easy & Juicy Smoked Turkey

If you’ve never smoked a turkey or eaten smoked turkey, you are in for a treat. The smoke adds a very subtle flavor and the brining keeps even the white meat juicy.

Prep Time12 hrs

Cook Time7 hrs

Total Time19 hrs

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 15 people

Ingredients

What you'll need to smoke a turkey

• 17-22 Pound Turkey
• 2 Cups Wood Chips (Pecan (cherry, apricot, Apple, or whatever you like)

Brine:

• 1 Cup Kosher Salt
• 2 Cups Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup whole Black Peppercorns
• 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
• 1 Cup Fresh Onions (chopped)
• 1 Cup Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Dry Mustard
• 2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder

Rub:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt
• 1 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Inside the Bird:

• 1 Medium Onion (quartered)
• 1 Apple (quartered)
• 1-2 Stalks Celery (quartered)
• 3 Cloves garlic
• 2 Sprigs thyme (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Thaw your turkey completely –this may take 2-3 days. Remove all of the giblets from the turkey cavity and set them aside for later use (I use mine to make a stock which I use for gravy and/or stuffing/dressing). Mix your brine ingredient in a container large enough to hold them and your turkey. This could be a large pot, bag, or clean 5 gallon bucket – depends on the size of your turkey. You can also use a doubled trash bags and a cooler with ice. Place turkey in with brine and enough water to cover the bird.
  
• Brine your turkey in the refrigerator or a cooler for 12 hours or over night. Remove turkey from brine and dry completely with paper towels, inside and out. Allow to come up to room temperature. Meanwhile soak your wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes to several hours.
  
• Chop the apples, celery, and onions and add them as well as the garlic and thyme springs to the turkey cavity
  
• Mix the butter, thyme, salt and black pepper together and rub under the skin (not every singe inch, but mainly the breast and thighs) same for the outside of the turkey.
  
• Preheat an electric smoker to 225°F. Place your turkey and one cup of water in a heavy gauge aluminum roasting pan and set on rack in middle of smoker. Place temperature probe in the thickest part of the thigh.
  
• Cook for an average of 15-30 minutes per pound or until temperature reaches 150°F to155°F in the thickest part of the thigh and juices run clear. Pull leg slightly away from the bird to check the color of the juices.
  
• Remove from smoker, tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Temperature will continue to rise 5-10 degrees and this gives you time to make gravy if you haven’t already.
  
• Carve breasts off turkey one at a time, then slice them against the grain and place on a platter. Arrange all other meat on platter (see photo). Pour some of the juices over the meat and cover to keep warm until ready to serve.