carne asada

There's something really beautiful about Mexican food. No, not Tex-Mex or Taco Bell. Real Mexican food. It's homey, simple, generous and oh so delicious. I don't know why but I've been craving this stuff all last week. Real bad. I may as well be diagnosed with idiosyncratic food syndrome (made up, not real) because dinner idea came up during my Infectious Disease class - a lecture filled with grotesque, disfigured, STD pus-oozing pictures to accompany each bacteria.

While browsing through my newest blog finds, I came across Marc's carne asada recipe from No Recipes. A real simple marinade and very flavorful. I started the marination process before I left for class and cooked it for dinner - about an 8 hour marinade. After cooking the steak to a delicious medium-rare, I cut it into bite size cubes, mixed it with red onion/cilantro and topped it off with some salsa over a warm, flour tortilla. Minimal is best I believe and every time I've had authentic Mexican food cooked by a family friend, it's always been simple. The only thing missing from this picture is a a nice, cold Mexican beer - which can be legally purchased in 4 more days. 4, more, long, anticipated days.

Carne Asada

Adapted from Marc at No Recipes

Ingredients:

- *1 skirt steak (see notes)

- juice of large lime

- 0.25 cup olive oil

- 0.25 cup minced cilantro

- 1 Serrano chili, minced

- 1 jalapeno, minced

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 0.5 teaspoon coriander seed, smashed

- 0.5 teaspoon Mexican oregano

- 0.25 teaspoon cumin seed, smashed

- 2 teaspoon sea salt, less if using table salt

- 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

*If substituting for flank steak, I would add a pureed kiwi like Marc suggests. The fruit's enzymes break down the steak's protein and helps tenderize the meat.

1) Combine all of the marinade ingredients together, whisk until incorporated and pour into a ziplock bag (or a marinade container)

2) Trim off excess fat if you must, and place the steak in the marinade. Turn to coat and marinade for 8 hours or overnight. I turn mine around once to redistribute the marinade.

3) Remove the meat from the fridge 30 minutes before grilling and allow it to come to room temperature.

4) Move the rack to the top and turn the broiler on high.

5) Place a sheet pan/baking sheet below the grilling rack to prevent juices from dripping to the bottom of the oven and wipe off any excess marinade from the steak. Place the meat on the grill and broil until browned on one side. Flip and brown the other side once the first side has been caramelized.

6) Transfer the carne asada to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Use a sharp knife to roughly chop the meat and mix it with diced red onions and cilantro.

7) Serve over warm tortilla and top it off with salsa or Pico de gallo.
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Out of pure curiosity, what is/are some of your favorite Mexican (or Tex-Mex) foods?