My friend Kelly tried a recipe for carne asada that she got from Simply Recipes. I asked her for a picture of the dish and she didn't have one. What is wrong with these non-blogger types who don't photograph their food? So I decided to try the recipe and share my photo with her.
A trip to my favorite Mexican market, El Charro, was the only stop I needed for all the ingredients to make a wonderful meal of carne asada. I bought a pound and a half of thinly sliced flank steak, limes, cilantro, prepared rice and beans, crema, flour tortillas, avocado and garlic.
The carne asada is marinated in olive oil, cumin, garlic, lime juice, and lots of fresh cilantro.
The market also prepares fresh Mexican food, so I took the lazy way out and bought small containers of rice and beans, which were delicious. I steamed the flour tortillas in damp paper towels in the microwave for 20 seconds to make them soft and pliable. I made fresh pico de gallo to serve with the carne asada. Nothing is better than fresh pico de gallo.
I let the meat marinate for five hours, then cooked it on my indoor JennAir grill. I lightly coated the grates with grilling spray, heated it to high, and placed the large strips of beef on the grill. It cooks super fast so make sure you have everything else ready to go. Remove the steaks from the grill and let them rest for a couple of minutes before slicing thinly on the diagonal. Serve wrapped in warm flour tortillas, with your choice of Mexican condiments. Add a cold Jarrito fruit beverage and you are good to go.
Oh, and take a picture!
Here is Elise's recipe but the photo is mine.
Carne Asada
Equipment
- Cast iron grill pan or outdoor grill
Ingredients
- ¾ pounds flank or skirt steak
Marinade:
- 1 tbs Olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 jalapeño chile pepper seeded and minced
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground cumin seed best to lightly toast the seeds first, then grind them but jarred ground cumin is fine too
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves and stems, finely chopped (great flavor in the stems)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Lay the flank steak in a large non-reactive bowl or baking dish. Combine marinade ingredients and pour the marinade over the steak. Make sure each piece is well coated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
- Preheat your grill over medium-high flame (you can also use a cast iron grill pan on high heat for stove-top cooking). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Remove the steak from the marinade. If you are cooking indoors, you may want to brush off excess marinade as the bits may burn and smoke on the hot pan. Season both sides of the steak pieces with salt and pepper. Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.
- (Optional) Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn). Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds each on high.
- (Optional) Serve with pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa) and chopped avocados.
Nutrition
Approximate nutrition information is provided as a convenience and courtesy only. You are encouraged to do your own calculations if precise data is required.
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