Carne Asada

Obviously this is nothing new or exotic...but it's so damn good, as well as quick and easy. Thin sliced/butterflied skirt steak, marinated in citrus, garlic, onion and peppers and flash grilled for just a few minutes on an 800°F grill. Chop it up and serve it up in steamed corn tortillas, with diced onions, roasted jalapenos, cilantro, fresh lime, hot salsa and a side of refried black beans! A crisp lager works great to wash it down and put out the fire. Sunday night I served it with my freshly tapped keg of Helles.

I love this stuff, it's one of my favorite quick dinners. When you're in a hurry, most latino markets will have it pre-marinated, but it's easy to just mix up your own marinade. I like to use orange juice as the acid component, and even toss in thin orange slices. It only needs to marinate a few hours, but I prefer overnight.


(Click the pic for enlarged beefy goodness! Perhaps I've phrased that badly...)

Looking tasty as always BLL.

One of my favorite meals! And simple too!

Man I love carne asada. New England sucks for Mexican food...

Love the Carne Asada.

I used to live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and there was a hole in the wall Mexican Seafood joint round the corner. They made the best sauce I have ever tasted for their Carne Asada. Sadly, they've closed and the mystery continues.

Carne asada just means roasted meat. Doesn't refer to any recipe. You can make carne asada however you want.

Damn, that looks tasty.

Got a good recipe for Chile Verde?

Man, Lunch time is just around the corner! Looking Great Lars!

Hmmm, no shortage of Mexican restaurants here in Austin. My favorite, Verdes, in Bee Cave makes a Carne Asada with 7 oz. petite Tenderloin and tops it with a mushroom tequila peppercorn sauce and serves it with a side of cilantro lime rice. Hmmm good.

How do you get your grill up to 800 degrees? That makes for some serious searing!

EdWort said:

How do you get your grill up to 800 degrees? That makes for some serious searing!

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I just crank up all of the burners (including the rotisserie element,) shut the lid and let it burn until the thermometer needle twists right off the dial! The dial markings stop at 750, but the needle keeps going well beyond, although I don't know how accurate it is.

The first time I used it this way, I nearly burned my arm off reaching in with the tongs...it's so hot you really have to stand away and use one of those extra long, fireproof gloves. Never needed that with my old gas grill...

Ah, the old rotisserie element trick. Nice. My old Weber Genesis would never get past 500. Man I'm hungry now. Thanks for the food pron!

DROOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

I love me some Carne Asada.

Now if you can come up with a way to do Taco al Pastor without owning a Trompo I might worship the ground you walk on.

You guys are making those of us who are grill-less more than a little jealous. *drool*

ChshreCat said:

You guys are making those of us who are grill-less more than a little jealous. *drool*

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Ahem...Count me in on the grill less club.

Yeah, I have been grill-less for a while... Maybe a nice indoor grill will take my mind off things. it isn't the same but I wonder if there are any that come close.

I use a cast iron grill pan on my stove. It works pretty well, but there's just a flavor that comes from an actual bbq grill.

ChshreCat said:

You guys are making those of us who are grill-less more than a little jealous. *drool*

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The first time I made Carne Asada, I was out of propane so I figured I'd just sear it in a cast iron pan. That was a mistake. You see, flank steak is generally marinated with acids like lime juice and white vinegar, cilantro, garlic, and lots of chopped up chiles. I didn't bother to brush the chiles off when I put them in my smoking hot cast iron pan. I also didn't bother to think that because we were living in an apartment, the vent fan didn't actually vent. Let me tell you that serrano and jalapeño smoke is a lot like chemical warfare agents.

well, i guess I figured out what I'm having for dinner.

ma2brew said:

Damn, that looks tasty.

Got a good recipe for Chile Verde?

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Chop up a pork butt, drop it into pot, dump in a can or two of Herdez green salsa. Cook low and slow for several hours, great in a crock put.

This is overly simple but extremely tasty.

arturo7 said:

Chop up a pork butt, drop it into pot, dump in a can or two of Herdez green salsa. Cook low and slow for several hours, great in a crock put.

This is overly simple but extremely tasty.

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I love cooking in the crock pot, and that sounds so simple it's got to be good. I'll just need to toss in a couple Serranos, or maybe a Scotch Bonnet, for a bit of added heat.

Thanks for the idea!

Gotta love the skirt/flank steak.

Used to be dirt cheap...till fajitas became popular.

Our local mexican hole-in-the-wall (nobody speaks English in there) mixes their prepared steak with some spicy, thick tomato puree and green chilis for kind of a beanless chili mix. Served with soft corn tortillas and fresh pico....excellent.

For any kind of tomato based sauce or recipe, I've found El Pato to be a godsend.

EdWort said:

Ah, the old rotisserie element trick. Nice. My old Weber Genesis would never get past 500.

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This trick also works great to heat up stone bowls for dolsot bibimbap, get's em' rocket hot! But now I'm getting .

Is that Kimchi?

EdWort said:

Is that Kimchi?

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Yep. Good stuff.

arturo7 said:

Chop up a pork butt, drop it into pot, dump in a can or two of Herdez green salsa. Cook low and slow for several hours, great in a crock put.

This is overly simple but extremely tasty.

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Alright, I can totally recommend this as a quick (as in easy and fast to throw together) passable chile verde. I just had a bowlful along with a few homemade tortillas (from mix) and I can say it was pretty damned tasty! Sure, there's no real chunks of anything in there but the pork, but who cares when that's what you're really craving?

I couldn't find cans of the Herdez salsa, so I bought a jar that was like 12 oz. and poured it in with about 2.75 lbs of stew cut pork chunks. That's it. Really, no salt, or other spices. After ~6 hours I was grubbin' on some nice tender pork 'n tortillas.

I'm sure some more complicated recipe would give a much more authentic flavor, but this was too easy and really good.

Thanks arturo7!

I haven't been able to stop thinking about carne asada since this thread's inception. I went to the grocery store yesterday and put together a marinade of 3 sliced jalepenos, a bunch of chopped cilantro, some garlic, lime juice, white vinegar, some olive oil, a little honey, ground cumin, and freshly ground black pepper. I just bought the cheapest lean beef that I could find, I ended up with top round for $3.50/lb. It might not be flank steak or skirt steak, but it'll still be tasty I'm sure. mmm.

Laurel said:

I haven't been able to stop thinking about carne asada since this thread's inception. I went to the grocery store yesterday and put together a marinade of 3 sliced jalepenos, a bunch of chopped cilantro, some garlic, lime juice, white vinegar, some olive oil, a little honey, ground cumin, and freshly ground black pepper. I just bought the cheapest lean beef that I could find, I ended up with top round for $3.50/lb. It might not be flank steak or skirt steak, but it'll still be tasty I'm sure. mmm.

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Sounds great! Love the new avatar too!