Happy Cinco de Mayo!
It's a requirement in our household to have some sort of Mexican food every year on the 5th of May.
This year was no exception.
Yesterday morning, while I was doing who-knows-what, I glanced over at the TV and saw Bobby Flay grillin' up some steak...nothing new. Then, he churned up some homemade salsa. Again, nothing new. The recipe he was making -- Skirt Steak Tacos with Roasted Tomato Salsa-- was ridiculously simple, but the end result was just mouth-watering.
The fluffy flour tortillas. The ripe avocado. The cool sour cream. The juicy steak. The fresh salsa. Everything together was just perfection. And I knew I had to make it for Cinco de Mayo.
One of the cool things about the Food Network is that after a show airs, the recipes can be easily found online at FoodNetwork.com. Below is the recipe as published on the website. As you will see, I omitted a few ingredients. They just weren't to my liking. This dish is simple enough that you could add or subtract whatever ingredient you want and you're still guaranteed that it's going to taste good. The one thing you cannot skimp on is the skirt steak. This is not negotiable. Skirt steak is fatty and flavorful, so it's essentially what makes these tacos so darn good. I would also break out the charcoal grill (as we did) to give it some extra flavor. The other non-negotiable is the salsa. It must be homemade.
Ingredients:
- 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
- 1 ½ pounds skirt steak
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ head romaine lettuce, thinly shredded
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, halved and diced
- Grilled Tomato Salsa, recipe follows
- 8 ounces sour cream
Because I can never follow a recipe exactly, I totally omitted the romaine lettuce and red onion.
Directions:
Heat grill to high.
Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and on the top rack of the grill while the steak is grilling.
Heat grill pan over high heat. Brush steak with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill on one side until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook to medium-rare doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain into ¼-inch thick slices.
Grilled Tomato Salsa:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for brushing tomatoes
- 2 serrano chiles
- 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 6 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 limes, juiced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
This time I left out the cilantro.
Heat grill to high.
Heat oil in a small saute pan and saute the chiles, onion, and garlic until soft.
Brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides until slightly charred and soft.
Transfer tomatoes and serrano mixture to a food processor; add the lime juice and salt and pepper and process until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse a few times (there should be flecks of cilantro in the salsa.) Transfer to a bowl.
Fill each tortilla with some lettuce, 3 to 4 pieces of meat, onion, grilled tomato salsa, sour cream, and avocado.
Yummy, yummy, yummy. You will not be disappointed.
Rhea
mmmm! These look really good! I think it's funny you eat Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo. Living so close to Mexico, we eat it all the time and it never even occurred to me to eat it yesterday. We had grilled cheese. LOL
Kasandria Reasoner
Yummy and easy to make!
Kas
Judy@Savoring Today
The roasted tomato salsa looks great! I'll have to try it.