Carne Asada Juicy Skirt Steak Mojo Marinade Food

CARNE ASADA

Steps:

• Place the skirt steak in a large glass bowl or resealable plastic bag.
• To make the marinade, add the cilantro, olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, honey, oregano, garlic and serrano chile to a blender. Season with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Blend for 35 to 40 seconds to combine.
• Pour the marinade all over the steak, moving it around to make sure everything is covered. Cover or seal and transfer to the refrigerator and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, but no more than 6 (too long in the marinade will cause the steak to begin breaking down).
• Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.
• When ready, remove the steak from the marinade, letting the excess drip off. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and grill about 4 minutes per side for medium.
• Remove to a cutting board and allow to rest for 5 to 7 minutes. Slice the steak against the grain and serve with the lime wedges.

CARNE ASADA (JUICY SKIRT STEAK + MOJO MARINADE!)

Steps:

• Start by choosing your cut of beef. See notes for more details. If you can find outside skirt steak (call a real butcher!) then definitely use that! Make sure whatever cut of meat you choose is well marbled with fat. Fat=flavor.
• Make the marinade. In a blender, add 1 tablespoon orange zest, 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, 3 tablespoons lime juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons Maggi seasoning (or soy sauce), 5 cloves garlic, 1 small bunch cilantro leaves, 2 tablespoons oregano, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper.
• Place 2 ounces dried ancho chiles (usually about 4-5 chiles) on a plate and microwave for about 30 seconds. Use scissors to snip off the stem at the top, and dump out all the seeds. Tear the chiles into a few strips. Microwave again for another 20 seconds or so to make them nice and pliable. Add the chiles to the blender and blend well until everything is combined. It's okay if it's a little chunky, the pieces of chili that don't get blended will become soft and pliable as they sit in the marinade.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of the marinade and store in the fridge.
• Unroll your outside skirt steak. Use a sharp knife to chop the meat into 6 inch long steaks, slicing WITH the grain. (You can skip this step if you like. I find it's easier to grill smaller steaks but if you want to try to fit a 2 foot long behemoth on your grill, be my guest. I also like chopping into smaller steaks because some sections are thinner or thicker than others, and we want everything to cook evenly. You can take a super thin section of steak off the grill way earlier than a thick section. Individual steaks also make it way easier to slice against the grain later.)
• Place the steaks in a large casserole dish or in a ziplock. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon kosher salt on top of the steaks, flip each one over, then sprinkle the other teaspoon of kosher salt on the other side. Make sure you are using kosher salt. (if using table salt, use less.) Salt makes the meat even more tender in addition to enhancing the flavor.
• Add the marinade on top of the steaks and stir and flip around to coat. Seal the bag or cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
• Before grilling, prep all your garnishes: Make the Pico de Gallo. Prepare the salsa. Make the guacamole. Slice the radishes. Chop the cilantro. Slice the limes into wedges. Use a fork to break up the queso fresco and add to a bowl. Set out the sour cream and extra mojo marinade. This steak cooks quickly, we want to be ready!
• Preheat your grill to high heat, abut 450 to 500 degrees. Let it preheat for at least 20 minutes.
• Remove the steaks from the marinade. You can either toss the marinade, or you can transfer it to a small pot and bring to a boil for about 3-5 minutes then serve with the tacos. It's so good, I don't like to waste it.
• Use paper towels to pat each steak dry. It won't be perfect, but the drier they are when they hit the grill, the more browning effect we will get. Let the steaks sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes while your grill preheats.
• Just before you are ready to put the steak on the grill, oil the grates. I like to add a little olive oil to a bowl, use tongs to dip a paper towel in it lightly (don't soak it) and rub the grill grates where the steak is going to go.
• Brush each steak lightly with a neutral oil so they don't stick.
• Place your steak on the grill and shut the lid (if using a charcoal grill, you can leave the lid off). Set a timer for 1 minute, then check each steak. If there is significant browning, it is ready to flip. If not, let cook 1 more minute. Flip each steak (thin steaks first) and shut the lid and set another timer for 1-2 minutes depending on the thickness of the steak. As a general rule for outside skirt steak, once the meat is browned on both sides, you can safely assume that the steak is cooked to about medium rare in the center. If you are nervous, use a meat thermometer and take it off the heat when it registers about 115 degrees F. (It will continue cooking while it rests.)
• Remove the meat from the grill and place on a cutting board. Tent with foil and let rest about 10 minutes.
• Char the tortillas. Brush each tortilla with a little bit of oil. (I actually stirred together about 1 teaspoon of the mojo marinade with 1/4 cup of oil and brushed the tortillas with that. It's optional.) Char the tortillas on the grill for about 30 seconds per side. If you see the tortillas start to bubble, that's when it's ready to flip it/take it off heat. Line a plate with a tea towel and wrap each tortilla with the towel as it comes off the grill.
• Slice the carne asada into very thin strips. See photos. Make sure you are slicing AGAINST the grain. You should see a pattern of little squares and rectangles on a cross section of the meat if you are slicing it correctly. Use a sharp knife to slice the steak into very thin strips, on the bias against the grain. "On a bias" means you should be cutting at a 45 degree angle, not straight up and down like you would slice bread. (This increases the surface area of each bite, and shortens the muscle fibers, enhancing tenderness.) "Against the grain" means that your knife should be cutting the meat perpendicular to the lines of muscle ("grain") that you can see on the steak. See photo.
• Assemble the tacos. Layer two charred tortillas on a plate. Top with strips of carne asada, Pico de gallo, salsa, guacamole, radishes, cilantro, lime wedges, queso fresco, sour cream, and extra (cooked) mojo marinade, if desired.

MEXICAN CARNE ASADA MARINADE WITH SKIRT STEAK

Steps:

• Place skirt steak on a cutting board, remove the top fat and silver skin, top with a plastic sheet, and pound the meat with a mallet on both sides until it is about ¼-inch thick (0.5 cm). Slice the steak into 3 to 4 pieces to fit in into the skillet where it will cook.
• Then, combine the taco seasoning, olive oil, and lime juice in a large Ziploc bag and place the steak inside. Shake to combine!
• Next, squeeze the air out of the bag, seal, and let the skirt steak marinate at room temp for 20 minutes maximum. If you marinate longer, the meat flavors may get lost.
• Remove the steak from the bag. Then dab to remove excess moisture from the marinade. This is so the steak can properly sear and get a nice brown crust.
• Cook the skirt steak either on a charcoal grill (preferred) or in a large cast-iron skillet or griddle. To cook it indoors, heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat for about 3-5 minutes or until super-hot and add the oil. It will shimmer! Place the steak(s) flat (do not overcrowd the pan), lower the heat to medium-high, and cook the steak for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until medium-rare (internal temp: 130 - 135°For 54-57°C).
• Transfer the steak(s) to a plate and tent with foil. Let it rest for 3-5 minutes and squeeze the juice of a lime on top. Cut into thin slices against the grain.

CARNE ASADA MARINADE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a 1-gallon ziploc bag.
• Add meat, seal and massage marinade into meat.
• Marinate in bag for up to 24 hours, turning and massaging frequently.
• Grill to medium rare.
• Serve whole, sliced, or diced for tacos or burritos!

TACOS CARNE ASADA

Steps:

• Lay the flank steak in a large baking dish and pour the mojo over it. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 8 hours, so the flavors can sink into the meat. Don't marinate the steak for more than 8 hours though, or the fibers break down too much and the meat gets mushy.
• Preheat an outdoor grill or a ridged grill pan over medium-high flame (you can also use a broiler). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Pull the steak out of the mojo marinade and season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill (or broil) the steak for 7 to 10 minutes per side, turning once, until medium-rare. Remove the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to settle. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.
• Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable.
• To make the tacos, stack up 2 of the warm tortillas, lay about 4 ounces of beef down the center, and sprinkle with some lettuce, onion, and cheese. Top each taco with a spoonful of the Pico de Gallo salsa and garnish with lime wedges. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
• In a mortar and pestle or bowl, mash together the garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper to make a paste. Put the paste in a glass jar or plastic container. Add the lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and oil. Shake it up really well to combine. Use as a marinade for chicken or beef or as a table condiment.
• Yield: approximately 1 1/4 cups
• In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients together. Toss thoroughly. Let it sit for 15 minutes hour to allow the flavors to marry.
• Yield: 2 cups

CARNE ASADA (GRILLED STEAK)

Steps:

• In a large stainless steel or glass bowl, mix the meat with the onions, orange juice, salt, pepper and oil. Cover and marinate at least 1 hour, or better yet overnight.
• Start a good fire in your grill, preferably with mesquite charcoal. Remove the meat from its marinade, pat dry and grill over hot flame until the first side is well browned, from 5-7 minutes.
• Turn the meat over and grill on the other side until cooked to desired doneness. Remove to a clean platter.
• Slice meat into thin strips across the grain and serve as a topping for tostadas or as a filling for tacos or burritos.
• VARIATIONS:.
• Add some lime juice along with the orange juice in the marinade. Or use sour orange juice (naranja agria) if you can find it.
• Other possible marinade additions include ground cumin, chili powder and chopped cilantro. Everyone has their own favorites.