I’ve made my favorite steak a few times over the past month, and shared the recipe with a couple friends, which made me realize I might as well just post it here for future reference and sharing.
This has basically been borrowed from several other recipes and tweaked until I no longer felt it needed tweaking.
The Marinade:
- 1 jalapeño sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup of spring onions sliced
- 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 1/3 cup of olive oil
- 1 orange squeezed
- 1 lime squeezed
- 1 lemon squeezed
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
The Steak:
You’ll want to marinate the steak for at least three hours, and up to six. You could probably use any steak and it would taste delicious. But there are two ways I usually approach it.
The more traditional cut is a skirt steak. Easy to buy at most butchers or at Whole Foods, and it’s reasonably priced. It’s thin, so you don’t need to grill it long, just enough to sear both sides. Once it’s done, you’ll want to cut it against the grain, which is a tad counter intuitive – it’s a long cut, and you’ll want to cut it the long way to get 3-5 long strips per piece.
What I’ve also done more recently, at the encouragement of my wife, is to use tenderloin / filet mignon, which you can also easily get at any butcher or at Whole Foods, but it’s most certainly not a bargain. I cut each steak into 3-4 large chunks to marinate, then then grill for 4-5 minutes per side, depending on how thick it is and how you like your steak. I try to get the outside charred a tad, with the center still a bit pink and rare. It’s like butter.
The Chimichurri Sauce:
This is a variation of a traditional chimichurri sauce. I tend to like it lighter and less oily than it’s normally prepared, so this version has more water than oil.
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 cup of parsley chopped
- 1 cup of cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
Put all the ingredients in a food processor, Ninja, or blender for 10-15 seconds. That’s it.