tacos

Flank Steak Tacos

Posted by Rex on June 27, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Mexican, Recipes, Tacos, beef / 4 Comments

Last week my friend Jeff had me over for a little grilling and drinking.  I brought the Corona and he gave me the workings for a great steak taco.  I must say, having a food website has open doors.  Everyone wants me to come over, but in return I have to do the cooking.  I have absolutely no problem with that.  Jeff had a nice flank steak that we grilled and made tacos with.

The tequila makes these amazing

The tequila makes these amazing

Grilled Steak Tacos with Roasted Peppers

  • 1lb flank steak
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 tequila
  • 2 limes
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbs cumin
  • 1 tbs oregano
  • 1 tbs onion powder
  • 1 tbs chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Roasted Peppers

  • 6 poblano peppers
  • 1 zip top bag for steaming the peppers

Lay the flank steak out on a cutting board and dry it off with a towel.

The flank steak

The flank steak

With a flank steak I usually tenderize it before I use it.  To do that use a hard object or a meat tenderizer and hammer the meat.  This will tenderize it and make it so that it is not too chewy.

Take all of your aggression and use it against the poor helpless piece of meat.

Take all of your aggression and use it against the poor helpless piece of meat.

Mix all of the seasonings above and place in a zip top bag.  You can add as much tequila as you like.  Jeff likes tequila so I think that we added about a 1/2-3/4 cup of tequila.

Add as much tequila as you like.

Add as much tequila as you like.

Then seal the bag and squeeze as much air out as you can.  Then refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.  2-3 hours is preferred.

Jeff was a great hand model.  I think he has a future in the business.

Jeff was a great hand model. I think he has a future in the business.

Just like the shrimp tacos from a couple of days ago, we are going to serve these with roasted peppers.  While the meat marinades, roast the peppers.  Place the peppers on high heat and turn them every minute or so until all of the sides are blackened.

It is alright to let them burn as it will make the skins come off easier.

It is alright to let them burn as it will make the skins come off easier.

Make sure to rotate them so that all of the sides get blackened.

Once all of the sides are blistered and black time to remove them from the grill

Once all of the sides are blistered and black time to remove them from the grill

Remove them from the grill when blistered and place in a plastic bag.   The plastic bag will help to steam the skins off.

Zip top bags make the perfect container for steaming the skins off.

Zip top bags make the perfect container for steaming the skins off.

After about 10 minutes it is time to peel the skins.  As you can see, the skins come off in giant sheets.

It might be a little dirty, but this is a hands on sort of thing.

It might be a little dirty, but this is a hands on sort of thing.

Slice into strips and serve these tender, smokey, and tasty treats with any and everything.

Now that the peppers are done, it is time to grill the meat.  Place the flank steak on the grill over high heat and sear the outside. 

Place the meat on a pre-heated grill

Place the meat on a pre-heated grill

After about 5-7 minutes you should have good grill marks.  When you have good grill marks and the meat looks golden it is time to flip.

Flip when you have good carmelization

Flip when you have good carmelization

Now continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes.  The meat should be about medium-medium well.  Remove and let the meat sit for 5 minutes before carving.  This will let the juices redistribute throughout the meat.  Then carve the meat into thin strips.  Make sure to cut against the grain.  Otherwise, the meat will be chewy.

Make sure to cut against the grain

Make sure to cut against the grain

Serve the steak tacos on a flour tortilla with some cheese, roasted peppers, salsa and some sour cream.  Makes for a perfect summer meal.

The tacos are great with just a little lime juice to add a tad bit more acidity.

The tacos are great with just a little lime juice to add a tad bit more acidity.

These tacos were the best of the night.  The meat was cooked perfectly and the seasoning was awesome.  Now that it is summer time, it is time to grill.  You don’t always have to make burgers and hot dogs.  Next time make grilled steak tacos.

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Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Roasted Peppers

Posted by Rex on June 23, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Mexican, Recipes, Shrimp, Tacos / 5 Comments

I love tacos and I love grilling.  So the combination of the two is basically the perfect meal.  Shrimp tacos are quick and easy and best of all, tasty.  My buddy Jeff called me yesterday asking if I was interesting in grilling out.   The only thing was that he had already purchased shrimp.  So the solution was easy, grilled shrimp tacos.

These tacos were great, especially with the grilled peppers.

These tacos were great, especially with the grilled peppers.

Continue reading…

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Chicken Tacos with Homemade Tortillas

Posted by Rex on May 05, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Baking, Chicken, Cooking, Hot Sauce, Mexican, Peppers, Recipes, Tacos / 2 Comments

Happy Cinco de Mayo! In honor of today I wanted to make a classic mexican dish.  At first I wanted to make steak tacos with homemade tortillas. But, it just so happened that everyone around me had the same idea. There wasn’t a single flank steak to be found within 10 miles. So I changed it up and made chicken tacos.  Luckily there just happened to be a few chickens at the market.

Chicken Tacos with homemade tortillas and hot sauce
Chicken Tacos with homemade tortillas and hot sauce

These chicken tacos are so easy.  Even with making your own tortillas it was on the table in 2 hours.  30 minutes or less with store bought tortillas.

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Cafe Atlantico
Rating: 2

Posted by Rex on March 27, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Restaurants Reviews / No Comments

405 8th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
http://www.cafeatlantico.com/

The expectations for this restaurant were very high.  With Jose Andres and Katsuya Fukushima one could expect nothing but perfection.  After eating at Cafe Atlantico I have come to the harsh reality that my expectations were completely wrong.  Everything started great.  We sat at the bar and had a few excellent cocktails.  After the cocktails we were seated and then everything came crashing down.  The first thing that happened was that the hostess came to our table and asked us if we were the group that complained about the restaurant week menu.  We were not, but it just shows the quality and strength of the menu.  To begin with the restaurant week menu was cut down to two choices for the night.  The website and front door menu listed six options for both the appetizer and the entree.  This was not that bad except that they replaced one of the six appetizers with a green salad, and one of the six entrees with a lunch special. 

Dinner menu

Appetizers

  • Chef’s special soup of the Day – gazpacho
  • MIxed Green Salad (lunch)

Entrees

  • Salmon con Quinoa y Cous-Cous de Coliflor
  • Specialty of the day (lunch) – Pork served with stewed tomatoes, olives, onions, capers and fresh lime with avocado

Dessert

  • Sorbet of the Day, Coconut Sorbet
  • Choco-Banana

I had the soup, pork and the Choco-Banana.  My Girlfriend had the salad, salmon and the sorbet.  We also ordered the table side Guacamole. 

Out first came the Guacamole, a mere 15 minutes after we ordered.  For a course that they prepare tableside, it took a long time to get to us.   The Guacamole is rather plain, but really shows of the flavor of the avacado.   I would recommend it for the first timer to Cafe.  Once made it was good, but it was not enough to tide us over until our appetizers came out 25 minutes later.  The appetizers were rather boring.  The only little bit of fun was the fried worms added to the top of the mixed green salad.  The salad was way over seasoned and showed just how much the restaurant likes restaurant week. 

I must digress, restaurant week is a time for restaurants to gain new patrons.  You are supposed to show of the best of the restaurant to get patrons that would not normally enter your restaurant to become repeat customers.  Cafe Atlantico and many other restaurants miss the point.  If you want patrons don’t simplify your menu, don’t offer food that I can get at taco bell, offer me something that distinguishes your restaurant from any other restaurant.  Make me want to come back, make me want to spend my hard earned dollars on your food.  Take pride in your food and don’t offer me something that you are throwing out there just to turn a 100% profit.

Back to the gazpacho.  Good body, good flavor, nice acidity.  It was a well balanced dish.  Probably the best of the night.  Just shows how the night went.  A cold soup beat out everything.

After the appetizers we had a good 30 minute breather before our entrees came out.  It gave us enough time to finish our wine and to discuss how everything was going.  Obviously not very well as it was 1:10 minutes into our dinner service and we had only our appetizers in our empty stomachs.  It was like we were the unlucky guests on one of the first nights of Hell’s Kitchen. 

Finally we received our entrees.  My pork had the texture of country fried pork without the breading.  After I cut out the bones, my portion was half its original size.  It was seasoned alright, but the combination of olives, capers, tomatoes and guacamole just did not work for me.  I just did not understand the guacamole.  The salmon came out well done and on underdone couscous.   This was a bit of a joke at the table as the waiter made sure that we were alright with medium-rare salmon, as that is how the chef liked to cook it.  I guess that the chef was not in, as the salmon came out cooked well done.

Finally we were given the gift of dessert a mere 2 hours after we sat down at the table.  This would not be bad if we were eating a six course meal, but for a three course meal that appeared to be pre-cooked this was horrendous.  The dessert consisted of coconut sorbet (enough said), and a Warm Chocolate cake (actually cold) with Venezuelan chocolate flan, banana foam and fresh banana lime salad.   The cake was cold, the foam was creamy and the flan was, well great.

Overall my experience was horrible.  The staff was inconsiderate, the food was moderate at best and restaurant weekers are treated as third-class citizens.  Would I go back?  Maybe for minibar, but for restaurant week, probably not.  

Reviewed 8/14/07 

 

 

 

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