Tailgate parties...a great place for football fanatics to gather, or a convenient place for food fanatics to gather?
Who cares?
As long as you can run your taste-buds into the end zone with traditional Mexican street tacos, baby!
Carne Asada is a Mexican recipe for marinated, grilled beef served in tortillas. This is not your run-o'-the-mill taco!
This is a flavorful and delicious fistful of awesome that's great for any occasion, and, for my money, skirt steak is one of the best cuts of meat you can ever toss on the grill.
Serves 6 to 8
- 2 pounds skirt or flap steak
- 24 corn, or 12 flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup tequila
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 cup Fresh Pepper Pico
- 1 cup simple guacamole
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
Mix juices, garlic, onion, tequila, hot sauce, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add meat and marinate both sides. Cover and refrigerate, turning meat over occasionally.
Let the steak marinate for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat your grill as hot as possible. Place a few drops of water on each tortilla, divide into 4 stacks, and wrap each stack in aluminum foil.
Place foil-wrapped tortillas on the grill, turning often, until warm through. Remove meat from marinade, discarding marinade, and pat the steak dry on both sides.
Lay the steak on the grill, and cook to your liking (12 to 15 minutes for medium-rare).
Flip once - FYI..the grill will “let go” of the meat when it’s ready to flip.
Cut the steak into thin slices, across the grain. Place a few slices of steak on each tortilla with pico and guacamole and serve.
Chef Perry’s Fresh Pepper Pico
Some folks aren’t fans of the heat, like I am…so I developed this recipe to allow me to minimize the fire by cutting out the jalapeno and some of the white onion (yes, some folks find white onion to be “too hot”) but still retain the contrasting crunch of those crisp, raw veggies with the fresh tomatoes (… and it’s purty, too!)
This attempt got major kudos from the “Mild not Wild” portion of the family.
- 5 fresh Roma tomatoes
- 1/2 large white onion, diced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 large orange bell pepper, diced
- 2 Tbs fresh squeezed lime juice
- 2 Tbs fresh minced garlic
- Salt & pepper to taste
Chill and dice tomatoes and combine with all remaining ingredients.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Super Simple Guacamole
Guacamole is an avocado-based dip created by the Aztecs in what is now Mexico. Traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados and sea salt with a molcajete (mortar and pestle.)
Some recipes call for tomato, onion, garlic, lemon or lime juice, chili or cayenne pepper, cilantro or basil, jalapeño, and/or additional seasonings.
Me? When it comes to my taco toppings, I like my pico and my guacamole distinctly awesome, so I keep it very simple to highlight the flavor and creaminess of the avocado.
- 3 medium Haas avocados, ripe. Peeled and diced.
- 1 Tbs lime juice
- 2 Tbs. minced garlic
- Salt, pepper, to taste.
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Mix and chill.
Top with cilantro just before serving.
