Churrasco

Use any thin cut of beef--shell, flank, hangar, tenderloin sliced with a grain. Make a chimichurri sauce: the leaves from two or three bundles of flat-leaf parsley go into the food processor with salt, pepper, a few shakes of Tabasco and lots of garlic (we used all the cloves from one head). Process and stream in enough olive oil for a thick sauce consistency, then add distilled white vinegar until it tastes piquant.

Use half the sauce to marinate the beef for an hour or so. Grill the meat, just a few minutes per side for medium rare. Serve with reserved sauce. We dished ours up with grilled tomatoes sprinkled with sauteed garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and fresh thyme, along with grilled fresh asparagus and scallions.

No-Skewer Chicken Satay

From Tom in New York. Chicken Satay: Turn on the broiler to heat and slice a few chicken breasts into thin strips. Toss with a small splash of vegetable oil and some spices of your choice, maybe coriander, curry powder, a bit of cayenne. Prepare a peanut sauce by mixing a scoop of chunky peanut butter with a few squirts of soy sauce, some brown sugar, and enough lime juice to thin the mixture. Cover a jelly-roll pan with foil and lay out the chicken strips. Stick under the broiler for just a couple of minutes until crisp. Side dishes include grated cucumber with sliced red onion, rice-wine vinegar and a sprinkling of sugar, and microwaved or steamed snap peas.