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Monday, September 13, 2010

jalepeno marinated skirt steak

There are excuses, but why even raise them? I didn't blog for awhile, and then the days loomed larger the longer I waited. So enough. But doesn't this picture of juicy medium-rare steak make up for it? At least just a little? Steak so good I needed to beg my neighbor's forgiveness. After smelling it sizzling above the coals, he asked me about it the next morning. I apologized for torturing him so (but who's not tortured me on many a summer-night walking of the pups with smells wafting over fences?) and promised to bring him some next time.

I developed this technique after craving something more (heat!!!) with my steak. Above, it's marinated and grilled skirt steak, but I've successfully used the same technique with flank steak, rib eye and strip steak. The fresh jalapenos lend just-the-right amount of spice. Warning: If you cook this inside on a skillet, you will cough. Suffer for the taste.
From meat sections
jalapeno marinated skirt steak
Less recipe, more inclination — vary the cut of beef and amounts of marinade to your heart's desire.
1 lb. skirt steak (or any other cut you enjoy)
1 (or 2 or 3 or 4...) jalapenos, sliced
a few glugs of Worcestershire sauce
a few glugs of low-sodium soy sauce (low-sodium because I like to control salt, type-A that I am)
salt and pepper

Place your steak in a shallow dish (or Ziploc bag). Scatter the jalapenos willy nilly, add a few glugs each of Worcestershire and low-sodium soy sauce (enough liquids to coat, but not drown, your beef). Cover the dish, and let them get friendly with one another in the fridge for a few hours. I've also only marinated for 30 minutes or so and the world didn't end. There was still coughing, so I'm guessing the chilies did their job.

Remove the now-spicy-and-savory steak from the fridge about 20 minutes before you're ready to cook it. This winds up nicely with about how long it takes to heat a grill = the universe loves beef on the grill. Too much? Once your grill is nice and hot (or your skillet oiled and smokin'), salt and pepper the steak, and throw on the beef. I cook skirt steak about 2-3 minutes a side for medium rare, but it will take longer with thicker cuts. I advise aiming for medium rare. An old pit-boss showed me this trick, which involves touching the meat and yourself. But not in a Lady Gaga kind of way.

Let the meat rest as long as you can stand it, aiming for 10 minutes. Slice. Enjoy.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

i was just craving a good beef dish. since i am cooking for one tonight, i was looking for something to experiment with that wouldn't take too much time. looks like i found it. love the cow diagram by the way. i'd like to see the same type of diagram for a pig. just cannot grasp why the shoulder is called the butt...although, i'm sure the good people of boston had their reasons.

Shannon Mac said...

C -- http://www.meatsections.com/2010/07/day-195.html

No clues, but cute nonetheless.

kbrams said...

Good find on that meat temperature trick! Who knew the human hand was so beef like ....except Jeffery Dahmer.

dorothee said...

I will wait for an invite - no grill here.

Anonymous said...

I'm in dire need of another recipe, lady!

(PS: Ironically, my word verification for this comment was broil.)