Tex Mex Carne Asada Food

CARNE ASADA

Steps:

• In a dish large enough to hold the steak, whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, vegetable oil, sugar, cumin, chili powder, and garlic.
• Using a fork, poke holes about an inch apart all over the steak on one side only. Place the steak in the marinade and turn to coat evenly (it doesn't matter which side is up). Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours, turning the steak at least once.
• Lightly oil the grill grates and preheat the grill to high. Grill the steak, covered, for 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let the meat rest on a cutting board, tented with aluminum foil, for about 5 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain and serve.
• Note: You may need to buy 2 separate flat iron steaks to get 2 pounds. Even if you're able to find one large steak, it's best to cut it in half into two smaller steaks -- they will cook faster and you'll have more surface area to char on the grill (we fight over the charred end pieces!).

CARNE ASADA BURRITOS

Steps:

• Heat the tortillas in the microwave or in a comal.
• Add the main ingredients (carne asada, beans, and rice) in the middle of the large tortilla, one at time. If you want, you can add the guajillo salsa and cheese at this point or you can smother the burrito at the end. Feel free to include the pico de gallo inside as well if you would like.
• Mix the ingredients up a little bit with a fork or spoon so that there is an even distribution of ingredients throughout.
• Fold the ends of the burrito in, and then carefully roll the burrito up, putting the seam on the bottom.
• If you are smothering you burrito, add it to an oven-safe dish, seam down and smother with the guajillo salsa and the cheese. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. In the alternative, you can just put it under the broiler on high for about 2-3 minutes.

CARNE ASADA

Steps:

• Place the flank steak in a large baking dish and, if using the sliced onion, spread the slices over the meat.
• In a medium-sized bowl mix together the orange juice, lime juice, light beer, Kikkoman soy sauce, vegetable oil, and freshly ground black pepper.
• Pour the marinade over the meat; cover with a plastic film and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Light up your charcoal grill, or preheat your gas grill. (You can also use a cast iron grill pan, the ones you use over the stove top). And brush your grill with a little vegetable oil as this will prevent the meat from sticking.
• Remove meat from marinade and pat dry. Place meat on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes per side. (Cooking time will depend on the meat thickness and your personal preferences, either medium or well done). Remove meat from grill and place it on your cutting board. Slice it and serve it with corn tortillas and other garnishes mentioned above.
• If you would like to have the same effect as that of the Mexican-American restaurant, place the cooked meat on a preheated cast iron pan, add a few drops of Soy Sauce and serve immediately. Enjoy!

THE BEST CARNE ASADA RECIPE

Steps:

• When ready to cook, remove the extra salsa from the fridge to allow it to warm up a little. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and preheat for 5 minutes. Alternatively, set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.

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.

CARNE ASADA FRIES

Steps:

• Combine the lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, and oregano in a small mixing bowl. Place the steak in a zip-top bag or a shallow container and pour the marinade over top. Allow the steak to marinate 6 hours or overnight.
• When you're ready to cook the meat, preheat your grill to medium-hight heat and grill the steak for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the steak reaches 125°F - 130°F for medium rare. Cook longer if you prefer it more well done. Alternately you can cook the steak in a cast iron skillet. Preheat skillet to medium-high. Add the steak to the skillet and cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness.
• Transfer the meat to a plate, cover with foil, and set aside.
• Cook the fries in the oven according the directions on the package.
• While the fries are cooking, melt the butter into a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add in the flour and whisk constantly for 2 minutes, cooking the flour. Slowly add in the milk and garlic salt, whisking constantly for 3-4 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.
• Add in the cheese in two portions, whisking constantly until melted and smooth. Remove the sauce from the heat, and cover until you're ready to assemble the fries. If the cheese sauce gets too thick as it cools, simply place it back on medium-low heat, and stir until warm and smooth.
• Slice the steak into bite size pieces, making sure to slice against the grain. When the fries are done remove them from the oven. You can make individual servings or serve on the sheet pan.
• Drizzle the some of the cheese sauce on top of the fries, top with steak, and more cheese sauce.
• Add avocado, pico de gallo, sour cream, cilantro, and jalapeño as desired.

TEX-MEX CARNE ASADA

Steps:

• In mortar or heavy bowl, mash garlic, salt, cumin, and oregano; blend spices into vinegar and lemon juice and mix well.
• Score meat in a cross-hatch pattern with deep cuts; rub spice blend into meat, making sure it gets into cuts.
• Marinate meat 1-4 hours in spice marinade.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Drain marinade from meat and reserve.
• Coat meat in flour and shake away excess.
• In roasting pan over heat on stove, heat onions in olive oil.
• Add meat and brown on all sides.
• Add reserved marinade, wine, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, and roasted bell peppers.
• Cover and roast in oven at 350 degrees F.
• for 2 hours, basting occasionally, turning meat over several times.
• Add a mixture of three parts water, one part wine to the pan if the meat starts to stick and the marinade gets low.
• Remove meat from pan, slice, and roast for 20-25 minutes longer, until meat tests done.
• Check sauce for seasoning; strain and serve over meat, if desired.

CHILE CARNE ASADA

Steps:

• Rehydrate the dried chiles which will take about 30 minutes and puree.
• Whisk the chile puree, the lime juice and cumin together.
• Rub the mixture on the meat, cover and let it marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight if you can.
• Bring to room temperature and cook on a medium hot grill to desired doneness.