Lime-Chili Rubbed Steak*

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009

Lime-Chili Rubbed Steak

This is a quick and easy wet rub that's great on steaks. I've already shared my love of flank steak, (read all about it here) so that's what I generally use this on, but it's also great on other cuts of meat. Some of our favorites are tenderloin, NY strip, and tri-tip. Wet rubs are great because you can whip it up last minute. Intense flavor infuses the meat quickly, so if you forgot to make a marinade, this is your answer. This is kind of my steak version of Kate's Taco chicken, and you can use it in a lot of similar ways. We love it with black beans and lime-cilantro rice, or sliced thin in soft tacos or on salad.

Can't go wrong with this line-up:


Lime-Chili Steak Rub
print recipe text only

1 t chili powder
1 t granulated garlic
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t oregano
1/8- 1/4 t cayenne pepper*
3/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
*If you have chipotle chili powder, you can substitute it for the cayenne or just add a little in addition

1 lime (about 2 T lime juice)
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut (tenderloin, NY strip, and tri-tip all work well)

Juice the lime into a small bowl. Add oil and spices and stir to combine. 


Place the steak in a shallow dish and pour the spice mixture on top. Now is the time to make friends with that hunk of beef. Use your hands to massage it in there. Trust me- your hands work a lot better than smooshing it around in a ziplock bag. Don't be afraid!

Let it sit for 15 minutes. During that time you can preheat your grill, make some side dishes, set the table, paint your nails, sneak some dessert, whatever.


{{Hey, doesn't that picture look like a goldfish?? I just noticed it and it's making me laugh every time I look at it, haha.}}

Place meat on hot grill (bbq is best, but an indoor grill pan or broiler will work just fine too). If you're using flank steak it should take about 5-7 minutes on each side. Here's a great tip for testing meat doneness in other cuts.

When steak is finished, remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into it. Otherwise all of the juices will run out and you'll be stuck with dry steak. And who wants to eat dry steak? Slice in strips against the grain. (Again, find flank steak info here)



mmm...now that's a juicy steak



This is great with a side of Black Beans and a quick salad, or with rice or in soft tacos or salad.

Related Post: Chili-Lime Steak Salad

Guacamole*

Guacamole

Guacamole is something that you don’t really needa recipe for. In fact, I’ve never in my life actually measured anything out when making it, and it’s really best to do it to taste but I realize that instructions like “add a little of this and a little of that” don’t work for everyone so I’m going to try to be as detailed as possible. It's not hard to mash up an avocado and throw in some seasonings, but I’m surprised at how many people don’t really know how to make really great guac, and I’ve found that like with so many other super simple recipes, it’s the little things that make the big difference. So here’s my must-do tips:

1. Ripe avocados- too ripe and you’ll have mushy guac that will go brown quickly, not ripe enough and it will be hard to mash and the flavor will be off. You want slightly firm, yet ripe fruits. Here’s some tips on picking good ones.
   

2. Fresh Garlic- no garlic powder, or even bottled minced garlic. For best flavor, use the real deal. (Need help peeling it?) Also use a garlic press for best results. If you don’t have one, make sure to mince it very well so you don’t have huge chunks of garlic to bite into. (Then go buy a garlic press). You can also grate it with a fine-holed cheese grater or Microplane. This “fresh” rule goes for the lime juice too. None of that bottled stuff. Seriously.

3. Add sour cream. Most people know that the citric acid in lime juice helps avocados to keep their color, but even better, much better, is the enzyme found in sour cream. It not only adds a nice creamy texture and flavor, but it will keep the guac looking fresh and green for several days. Yes, that's right, I said days. I've had some in my fridge that's on day 3 now and it looks just as green as the first day I made it.

Look at all this yummy stuff!

Avocados, onion, sour cream, garlic, lime and salt

Guacamole

Use these measurements as guidelines and then make to taste

2-3 medium avocados (when I diced them, I got about 1 ¼ C)
1 T Fresh lime juice (or a good squeeze from ½ a lime)
½ -1 t fresh minced garlic (depending on how you like it, I always add 1t or more....)
2 T finely minced onion
2 heaping spoons of sour cream (I measured 1/4 C)
Salt (and pepper if you like) to taste
Optional: 3-4 T finely diced tomatoes (If I happen to have them I add them, if I don't, I don't!)

Scoop out avocado from skins and mash in a bowl with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and combine well. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. I like to make it at least 30 minutes ahead of time to let the flavors combine and intensify.

Try it with chicken or beef taquitos or served on fajitas or taco chicken.

Fajita Time*

Fajita Time!

I know you've all been posed the question (and I have no idea where or when, but somehow I myself have had to answer it many times thus far in my relatively short life) "If you had to pick one thing to eat every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?" And while I would hate to be required to pick just one thing (since I can't really live on chocolate alone, but certainly can't live without it either...oh the angst!) This meal would be one of my top contenders. I love fajitas that much. But not just any fajitas- they have to be good. Really good. And that is what this week is all about. Toss out the store-bought seasoning packet and the 50 for $1 bag of tortillas. I'm going to show you a flavor-packed marinade and grilling method today, and on Wednesday Kate will be doing a cooking class on making homemade tortillas. I promise once you make your own (which is a lot easier than you may think) you won't want to buy bagged ones at the store ever again! I'll be ending the week with another component, so make sure to keep checking in. I can almost guarantee this will be one of your favorite meals as well. 

Kate and I both use the same marinade. Our mutual friend Mel first shared it with us (thanks Mel!), and since then I've seen it floating around on the internet from several different sources, so it's been around and maybe some of you use it too. I've tried a lot of marinades for fajitas and this is by far my favorite. For whatever reason, it just has the perfect combination of all the right flavors.

We've got: 

cumin, onion powder, salt, pepper, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, liquid smoke,
chili powder, cayenne pepper, fresh lime juice, garlic, and jalapeños. 

Fajitas Marinade

1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/3 C water
2 T vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
3 t vinegar
2 t soy sauce
1/2 t liquid smoke* (I personally always add about 2 t)
1 t salt
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 t onion powder
optional: minced jalapeños, depending on how hot you like it (The original recipe calls for Jalapeños, but I never put them in, and apparently Kate doesn't either, so they get a big fat "optional!")

*If you're not familiar with liquid smoke, you can find it near the bbq sauces in a small bottle (you can see it in my picture above). And please don't make this without it! It's definitely one of the key components. It makes things yummy and smoky and super flavorful. And if you're wondering, it actually is real smoke in liquid form. Interesting, eh? 

For the Fajitas:
-Boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large ones). Steak is also great.
-Bell Peppers (about 3 large ones) I always use Red, Yellow, and Orange because they're the sweetest, but you can use whatever you like. 
-1 Onion. In my pictures I used a white onion, but I prefer a red one just because the color looks so great in there.
Now this is a marinade. I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you all know how to use it. Mix all that stuff up and place in a zip-lock bag. Before you put the meat in, reserve a little marinade to use when cooking. Then toss in the chicken or steak, and bell peppers and onions. Marinade for at least 4 hours, but longer if possible. Then grill outside on the bbq, or indoors on a skillet (cast iron is best) or grill pan. Use the reserved marinade as you cook. You know the rest!
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Now if you care to know, I'm going to explain the method to my fajita madness. Here's what I do: 

1. I usually double the marinade, or 1 1/2 it because I have this weird thing where I like to see my meat swimming. Once it's all combined, immediately reserve about 1/4 cup, and set it aside.
2. I then butterfly my chicken, or pound it thinner, because that increases the marinade-to-chicken ratio!
3. I toss all of the meat in the bag of marinade, but leave the peppers and onions out. Only reason being that I usually want all of the marinade for the meat (see above weirdness), and the veggies get a splash of it at the end with the marinade I reserved. But if you have enough marinade, go ahead and do the veggies too.
4. I slice my onion into about 1/2 inch slices, and leave the slices in tact. Then I quarter the peppers.
5 When they're ready to grill I toss the veggies with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.

One of the things I love most about fajitas are the gorgeous colors!

As said before, you can make this in a skillet, or a grill pan inside, but I love it best on the grill. Everything goes on the grill at the same time. Cook until the chicken is done (be careful not to overcook, especially if you pound it thinner like I do) and the peppers and onions should have nice grill marks and a little charring, like this:
When everything is finished cooking start slicing.
Now here's a problem I notice with meals like this. When I serve everything separately, it never gets finished at the same time. We're always left with extra veggies and no chicken, or vice-a-versa. For this reason, I like to slice everything (veggies and meat) into equal sized slices. I toss it all together in a large bowl with the marinade we reserved at the beginning, and a big handful of chopped fresh cilantro. Then I put it out on a big platter. It makes serving so easy because you can just grab a big tong-full and get some of everything. 

Serve in tortillas alone, or with all the fixings: Black Beans, Guacamole, or diced avocado, Pico de Gallo, Sour Cream etc. 

Now in honor of Fajita Week, everyone leave a comment and say something in Spanish!
(And yes, you can totally make it up :)

Quick and Easy Black Beans*

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2008

Quick and Easy Black Beans

Remember on Monday I was talking about having to choose just one food to eat every day for the rest of your life? The closest I've come to that is actually eating one thing every single day for 18 months of my life. Now this sort of thing will usually have one of 2 effects. 1) Cause severe aversion to the food so the very thought of it makes you want to hurl, or 2) Create some subconscious need that makes it impossible for you to ever live without it. For me, it was the latter, and that is why at our house we eat black beans- in some form- at least once a week! I have a lot of different ways to make them, depending on how they're being served. But this is one of those "recipes" that I get asked for all the time. My usual response is "a little of this and a little of that" since I don't use a recipe. But just as with the lime-cilantro rice, this blogging thing has given me a reason to actually record some of my measurements so I have actual recipes to share. So to all of my friends out there who have been asking me how I make these- here you go! These beans are great alone as a side dish, or (all my Brazilian friends plug your ears now) topped with shredded cheese and sour cream, served over rice (they're great on top of the aforementioned lime-cilantro rice minus the pineapple), or in fajitas and tacos. When I made them for these pictures, I spooned them on top of taco chicken, and then topped it with slices of creamy avocado and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. It was DiViNe. Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Black Beans 

2 Cans Black Beans, drained and rinsed 
1/2 T olive oil 
2/3 C diced onion 
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced 
2/3 C chicken broth (or water, I use broth for extra flavor) 
1/4 t cumin 
1/4 t coriander
1/4 t oregano 
1/2 t salt 
1/4 t pepper 
1 lime 

In a saucepan on the stove, heat the olive oil to med-high heat. Saute onions for about 3 minutes or until they just start to become translucent. Add garlic and saute abut 30 seconds more. Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they are done cooking, remove from heat and add in a few squeezes of fresh lime juice. Then use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula so smoosh (yes, that's a technical culinary term) some of the beans. You don't want to pulverize them, but you want to take a bunch of good smooshes so that some of the beans are smashed, which will thicken the sauce. I like mine on the thicker side so I smoosh quite a bit. They will thicken more upon standing.

If you want a more soupy consistency, just add a little more broth.
Serve as a side dish, or on top or rice, in fajitas or tacos, or on top of chicken or steak.