Saturday, June 16, 2012

Carne Asada Tortas

Oh, yummy, yummy, yummy.  My fam has eaten these for the past three nights, and they are heavenly.  The original recipe has you grill the skirt steak, but my hubby is gone and I'm scared of trying the grill by myself.  I know, dumb.  So I modified it a bit to cook the steak in my crockpot.  If you stay tuned after the recipe, I'll tell you what I did to modify it for crockpot use.

Carne Asada Tortas
Serves 4-6
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
Marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
Chili Mayonnaise:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
4 to 6 torta rolls, telera rolls, bollitos/bollilos, or french rolls
vegetable cooking spray
Garnish:  fresh salsa, sliced avocado, shredded lettuce

Place skirt steak in large ziploc bag.  In a small bowl, whisk the orange juice, chili powder, oregano, and cumin together; set aside.  Place 1/2 of the onions and citrus fruits on each side of skirt steak in ziploc bag.  Pour orange juice mixture over all. Close the bag and place in a container (in case it leaks) and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours, or overnight.

Chili mayonnaise:  In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, chili powder, and cumin together.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium high.  Slice torta rolls in half, lengthwise.  Spray each side with vegetable cooking spray and place, cut side down, on heated grill.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes, watching very carefully.  Remove from grill and keep warm.  Remove meat from marinade and grill 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until desired degree of doneness.  Remove from grill to a rimmed cutting board and slice across grain of meat into 1/2" strips. Spread each half of torta roll with an equal portion of chili mayonnaise.  Layer a portion of meat on bottom of each roll.  Top with desired garnishes and serve.

*  How to do this in a crockpot - Put the skirt steak in first.  Then cover with all of the marinade ingredients.  Add one cup of water and one beef bouillon cube.  Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

*This recipe was taken from Barbeques - Parties and Potlucks, 2001, California Cookbook Company.