Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Skirt steak

Tonight's Menu

  • broiled skirt steak with roasted salsa verde
  • multigrain tortilla chips
  • green salad "bar"
Fajitas are a staple for us during the summer months, and I've discovered that while the kids don't usually like assembling and eating the actual fajitas (I know -- freaks!), they do love the meat and will happily scarf down large quantities of that on its own.

So, I prepared the skirt steak pretty much the way I do when I'm making fajitas -- rub on both sides with a prepared fajita spice rub, then whisk some fresh lime juice with EVOO and pour that over the steak, marinating for at least a couple of hours in the fridge (I put it in a large plastic zipper bag -- you could use any non-reactive container). But instead of grilling it for four minutes or so per side over high heat, I stuck it under the broiler for the same amount of time. Not QUITE as good as grilled, but pretty darn close! I sliced it very thin across the grain and the kids both had seconds. In fact, there were no leftovers, which is rare for us!

I actually made the salsa verde ahead of time and just stuck it in the fridge until dinner was ready. All I did was remove the papery husks from several tomatillos, give them a rinse, and stick them on a cookie sheet with a huge anaheim pepper (you could also use a poblano) and several unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with EVOO and stick in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes, or until they get soft and a teensy bit brownish. Let cool, then remove the stem and seeds from the pepper and the papery peel from the garlic cloves. Then just whizz it all up in a food processor, adding a bit of lime juice if you like, and a bit of EVOO, and seasoning with salt to taste. I wish I had put some cilantro in this too, but we were all out. Oh well, it was still very yummy! I actually served this alongside the meat, picking up forkfuls of each for every bite, but it's great with chips, too (we LOVE Tostitos Multigrain tortilla chips)(they are not paying me to say that, but they totally SHOULD).

Tonight's salad bar was mixed green lettuces (romaine and butter, I think?) along with grape tomatoes, sliced carrots, sliced cucumber, and julienned jicama. If you've never had jicama, give it a try! All you do is peel it (like a potato) and then cut it into whatever shapes you like. It's very crunchy and juicy and to my palate tastes like a cross between an apple and a raw potato. The girl thought it tasted a bit like celery, and the boy said it was similar to cucumber, but "without the tang". He must have liked it, though -- he ate a HUGE quantity of it!

7 comments:

sugarbutter said...

Is skirt steak the same as hanger steak? Some butchers have told me yes, but I just don't think so.

Mrs. Garlic said...

i think it is.

Anonymous said...

Badger....thank you so much for your salad "bar" idea....it has changed our lives...I would leave things off that I like but the little ones didn't and now I just do one of those veggie trays full of the toppings and we pull it out every night for our salad! SO MUCH HELP!!

Badger said...

Alisha, I'm glad the salad bar idea is working out for you! I can't take credit for it -- it was the boy child's idea. Now I just keep veggies cut up in little lidded containers and put them out with the greens -- so easy!

Sugarbutter and Girl, I've bought and prepared both hanger steak and skirt, and they are/were not the same thing. However, they are pretty similar and can be substituted for one another in a pinch (along with flank steak).

Dr. Beth said...

Could you describe the salad bar idea? I searched but couldn't find it on the site, and it sounds like a great idea, from what I can tell.

Badger said...

Sure thing! All I do is put the greens/lettuces in a big bowl, then put all the other salad ingredients in separate bowls alongside, kind of like a restaurant salad bar (but on a much smaller scale). That way everyone can mix their salad however they like.

This came about when the boy child, who apparently got tired of picking the stuff he didn't like out of our tossed salads, requested it. It does use up more dishes (and table/counter space) than simply tossing all the salad ingredients together in one large bowl, but aside from that it's really no more trouble to do.

An interesting side effect of this has been that sometimes the kids ignore the lettuce/greens altogether and just pile their plates with the raw chopped veggies/fruits instead. In fact, I think they've both been eating more fruits/veggies at dinner since we started this!

Anonymous said...

Awesome idea with salad bar...
My kids love eating jicama with lemon... Especially in the summer :)