Carne Asada (Citrus Marinaded Skirt Steak)

Carne Asada is the quintessential grilled dish in my backyard.  It’s the perfect summer meal to enjoy with friends and family.   When I want to barbecue, I think of Carne Asada or Burgers.  We are fortunate in California to have a plethora of Mexican Carnecerias (Meat market).  At the Carnecerias you can buy marinaded skirt steak ready to grill.  When I lived in New York 12 years ago I couldn’t find marinaded Carne Asada.  I had to figure out how to make it myself.  It is a sweet and sour, citrus marinade that tenderizes the meat.  It grills up in just minutes.  When the skirt steak is done sit down with friends and grab a beer because it’s time to chill.

Servings-4

Time -1 hour and 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 lbs of skirt steak, 1 cup fresh orange juice (3 oranges), 1/2 cup of fresh lime juice (3 limes),  1 cup of vegetable or canola oil, 1/2 red onion sliced, 1 clove of garlic smashed, 1 1/2 tsp of Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp of cumin and 1/2 tsp of Mexican oregano

Marinade

Place skirt steak in a pyrex platter and add all the ingredients listed above and let marinate for an hour in refrigerator.

Grill

After 1 hour take meat out of refrigerator and let sit at room temperature while grill gets hot.  Get grill to take least 400 degrees.  Place skirt steak on grill about 3 minutes per side.  The steak is very thin and cooks quickly.  The basic rule of thumb is to look for great grill marks and flip once.  The marinade has a cup of oil in it so be careful to properly drain excess off before placing on grill to avoid oil fire and flame.  Grill jalapeños and Mexican green onions for added flavor.

Place cooked meat on platter and enjoy alone with a side of rice and beans.  You could also chop this up for Carne Asada tacos or burritos.  Grab a sit at my table while I pour you a drink.  Enjoy!

Please see blogs: Back to Basics a Mexican Kitchen, Don’t tell anyone I told you this secret and Take a Break.  It’s Labor Day for recipes on rice, beans, salsa and guacamole.

Recipe note:

Please don’t leave out oil in marinade.  It balances the citrus flavor.