Carne Asada Tacos & Guac

Here’s what you’ll need:

For Carne Asada Tacos:

1 ½ lb. Flank or Skirt Steak

1 Package of White Corn Tortillas

2 Yellow Onions

Queso Fresco

1 Bunch of Cilantro

Salt + Pepper to taste

For Mrs. Ammermans Guacamole:

3 Avocados

½ Cup of Salsa

½ Cup Cilantro (minced)

½ Cup Fresh Grated Pepper Jack Cheese

½ Lime (juiced)

Salt + Pepper to Taste

Salsa:

¼ Yellow onion (diced)

4 Tomatoes (diced)

 ½ Cup Cilantro (minced)

½ Lime (juiced)

First lets start by marinating and prepping the meat.  The longer you let the meat marinate, the better.  We recommend letting it marinate for a few hours.  Flank/skirt steak is naturally tough meat.  It’s very important to tenderize the meat well before seasoning and cooking.  This will soften up the meat and make it a lot more tender and easier to eat.  After you’ve beaten it until tender, go ahead and season both sides with olive oil, salt, pepper, lime juice, and minced garlic.  Set aside and let it soak while you heat up the grill to medium and finish preparing your salsa and guacamole.

We will start with the salsa first. Grab a small bowl and dice your yellow onion, 4 tomatoes, ½ cup cilantro, adding them to the bowl. Save a small amount of your diced yellow onion and cilantro for garnishing your tacos at the end. Next, add the juice from ½ of a lime. Salt and pepper to taste.

Now for Mrs. Ammerman’s guacamole.  Feel free to also check out Mike's Guac if you're in the mood for a different style of guac. The key ingredient to Mrs. Ammerman’s guacamole is the zesty pepper jack cheese. Cut three avocados directly down the middle and split them in half by twisting each side in opposite directions.  Once separated, carefully tap your knife into the pit to remove it.  After all of the pits are removed, take a large spoon and scoop the avocados from their shell, placing them into a medium bowl.  Next, take your block of pepper jack cheese, grate about ½ cup and then add to your bowl.  Add your cilantro, ½ cup of salsa and ½ lime (juiced) to taste. Grab a large fork and mash up your ingredients until everything is evenly mixed.  We recommend leaving the guacamole a little chunky.

Now that we have our guacamole and salsa ready its time to cook our meat.  Go ahead and add your meat to the grill once it’s at medium temperature.  Cooking time varies depending on the cut, thickness, and size of steak that you have.  We recommend a medium to medium-well light pink center.  It should no longer than 6 minutes per side.

While we wait for the steak to cook we can move on to the tortillas.  Find an empty burner on the stove and set the heat to medium-low.  The goal is to get our tortillas slightly toasted and crisp.  Make sure you're extra careful and remember to keep a sharp eye on the toasting process. Grab your tortilla and set it directly centered on top of the burner.  Toast for 30 seconds per side.  Repeat this with however many tortillas are needed.  If you want to go the safer route, we recommend using a toaster oven.

By now the steak should be ready for slicing.  Remove your steak from the grill and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.  Letting your steak sit will finish the cooking process and keep it nice and juicy.  This gives you some time to get everything organized and ready to go.  The key to slicing the steak is to slice it against the grain.  Slicing against the grain results in a tender piece of meat.  Incorrectly sliced meat can leave it with a chewy texture.  For tender slices, look at the meat to determine the direction of the grain (the muscle fibers), and cut across the grain, NOT with it.  This is important with tougher cuts of meat such as the flank/skirt steak that we are using.

After cutting the meat, layer your tacos first with steak, followed by diced yellow onions, cilantro, a spoonful of guacamole, queso fresco, and salsa.

Enjoy!