Grilled Skirt Steak (Tacos)

Unlike most American cooks, I am woefully inexperienced when it comes to cooking meat.

I guess we seldom (if ever) grilled meat at home growing up. My mom never made large roasts in the oven, or baked a whole chicken. Instead, our meals were predominantly Chinese stir fry dishes, which typically consists of tiny, cut up pieces of meat quickly cooked with tons of vegetables.

I’m not exactly complaining. I’m a vegetable lover at heart, and it if weren’t for my love of sushi, I could seriously consider becoming a vegetarian.

Nevertheless, writing this blog has made me expand my horizons and explore areas I never dabbled in before.

Even though it’s the middle of “winter” (umm, where’s the snow?), we rolled out the grill last week in order to make skirt steak tacos.

I am continuously surprised at how easy it is to cook meat.

This skirt steak recipe is really simple; doesn’t require too much advance planning; and tastes delicious. Just marinate the steak in a lovely concoction of lime juice, blood orange juice, garlic, and cilantro for about 30 minutes. It grills up beautifully and tastes fantastic.

We made used them to make tacos, but you could easily make fajitas, sandwiches, or any other dish that requires small pieces of sliced up steak.

What is Skirt Steak?
For those of you who have never cooked skirt steak, it’s a cut of beef that comes from the diaphragm of the cow. It’s a long, thin piece and is a bit harder to find in normal super markets. In fact, when I asked for it at Whole Foods, they had to go to the back to get me a piece.

Skirt steak is known for its nice flavor (look at that marbling!) but is also a tougher cut of meat. Therefore, it’s best to marinate it, grill it quickly, and cut across the grain.

I adapted a simple marinade that I found for carne asadas (literally “roasted meat” in Spanish, often used for Mexican dishes like fajitas, tacos, etc.) by adding blood orange and a fancier vinegar for a brighter kick.

Combine lime juice, white wine vinegar, blood orange juice, cilantro, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until nicely pulverized and blended.

Marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.

Take out your snazzy grill tools (thanks Mr. Bar-B-Q for this awesome grill set!)

Put on your warmest down coat, and start grilling! (Thanks Bryan!!)
Skirt steak is a tougher cut, so you don’t want to overcook it. I would suggest about 2-3 minutes a side, giving you a nice medium to medium rare steak.

Let rest for about 10 minutes, and then cut against the grain as shown above.

Serve!

Make tacos, fajitas, or whatever you fancy. Enjoy!

If making tacos, here are some great accompaniments:
Chipotle Mayo
Pico de gallo
Guacamole

Grilled Skirt Steak
1 lb skirt steak

Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 T white wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 blood orange
juice of 1 lime

Combine all marinade ingredients in a food processor and pulse until all the elements are finely chopped (just a few times should be enough!). Salt and pepper both sides of the skirt steak and marinate in the marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.

Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry, and grill at high heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Let the steak rest for about 10 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve!

Enjoy!