Hot, sizzling chimichurri to warm up autumn

When I first walked into the kitchen of Mark’s Place, Mark Millitello’s restaurant in Miami, I had just abandoned my career as a ballerina. I weighed eighty-eight pounds and was stationed on the line between two hulking Jamaican guys who took me under their ample wings. Once they realized that I knew my way around a professional kitchen, they taught me how to cook their food — Jamaican yams, callaloo, breadfruit, ackee (a tree fruit that tastes somewhat like scrambled eggs when cooked), and salt cod.

One of the cooks pulled the ackee off his own tree and sautéed it with salt cod and Scotch bonnet chiles as a breakfast for the kitchen crew that we enjoyed at least three times a week. (Another breakfast they taught me to love was grapefruit washed down with sweetened condensed milk dusted with nutmeg.)

They also showed me how to combine pumpkin and spices, using just enough to keep the pumpkin flavor up front. Apples bring a combination of tart and sweet to the mix.

Calabaza
A variety of squash popular in Latin America and the Philippines, calabaza is called West Indian pumpkin in the Caribbean. It’s very similar to our pumpkins in the United States, but not as sweet. If you can’t find calabaza and pumpkin isn’t available, substitute butternut or acorn squash.

Pepitas
Pepita is the Mexican name for pumpkin seeds. Small and flat like sunflower seeds, they can be scattered over soups and salads. They are sold raw as well as roasted and salted, which is my favorite type, both for cooking and for snacking straight from the bag.

My genealogy may be mixed, but when it comes to cooking steaks, I’m pure Argentine: I season them well, put them on the grill, and listen to them sizzle. Then I top them with chimichurri, the Argentine version of salsa, a condiment found on every table and used on any number of foods.

Like many Argentinean recipes, the exact formula changes according to the maker. I like my “chimi” a little mellow, with not too much garlic, lots of parsley, a touch of heat, and good oil and vinegar. Chimichurri is the classic accompaniment to grilled meats, and I serve grilled steak with both red and green chimis alongside. The traditional green, made with parsley and red wine vinegar, is also good on chicken and just about everything else under the sun. The red is made with cayenne and paprika and is great with fish, chicken, and pork.

You can use just about any cut of steak for this recipe: churrasco, or skirt steak, is my favorite, because its “accordion” shape and generous marbling make it flavorful and juicy and, at medium-rare, still pleasingly chewy.

You can also use either or both chimichurris as a marinade, dressing the steaks with them for up to 2 hours; just be sure to brush off any herbs or spices before grilling, as they will burn.