Chimichurri is an Argentine sauce. You can use it in a zillion ways — as a vinaigrette over salad, as a marinade for fish, poultry or meat, etc. Argentines splash it (room temperature or heated) over cooked meats and fish as they come off the barbeque grill and onto the plates.
Wash hands with soap and water; ensure worksurface is clean.
Mix water and salt, set aside.
What you have just made, if you are curious, is called "salmuera" or "salted water."
Now combine all the ingredients, including the salted water. Either shake in a shaker (salad or martini shaker, either will do the trick) or in a clean screw-top jar OR whiz in a blender (omit bay leaf if blender.)
Put in a sealed container (add the bay leaf now, if you used a blender) and refrigerate to allow the flavours to marry. Overnight is fine, even ideal, but a few good hours will do. Before serving, remove the bay leaf and give it another good shake.
Store any leftovers covered in fridge and use up within 3 to 5 days.
Notes
There are thicker versions of Chimichurri sauce that have chopped onions, pepper, etc in it, which you would spoon or fork on as you would a relish. This version is a pouring or splashing sauce, if you will.For parsley, you want ⅓ of a normal sized unpackaged bunch at a green grocer's (about 20 grams, or a bit less than an ounce).If using as a marinade, do not reuse marinades that came into contact with raw foods.If brushing on raw meat, to avoid contamination of the whole batch, pour some sauce in a small dish, and brush meat out of that small dish. Replenish dish as needed from the larger amount of sauce. Discard any leftover sauce that was in the small dish.SaltIf you are using normal fine table salt, use 2 teaspoons. Mix the salt in the water and set aside.If you are using a coarser salt, such as Maldon salt, kosher or a coarse sea salt, use a tablespoon. Mix into warm water and set aside to cool and dissolve.Directions in this recipe follow the Safe Recipe Style Guide .