Anyone have a good recipe/marinade for Al Pastor? I thought I'd seen it here before but can't find it now. I've been out of town for a bit and the
darling husband is feeling mighty ignored so I'd like to fix him something
terrific for dinner and cheer him up
I don't have a rotisserie but would like to marinade some pork and grill or broil it and need a recipe.
Thanks for your help Nomads!Pompano - 8-26-2009 at 08:30 PM
docsmom...I believe this is the one we used for a patio party in Baja. I know everyone raved about it. Good luck and bon appetite.
This is not "Al Pastor", per se, but is one of the best tasting recipes I have ever found for Mexican style cuts of beef. I have used this marinade
for pork as well with excellent results.
Arrachera or Skirt Steak
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
8 servings as fajita meat or 4 as main course Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar or Mexican brown sugar
2 pounds inside skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces
Directions
Heat charcoal, preferably natural chunk, until grey ash appears. In a blender, put in oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, lime juice, red pepper,
cumin, and sugar and puree. In a large heavy duty, zip top bag, put pieces of skirt steak and pour in marinade. Seal bag, removing as much air as
possible. Allow steak to marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator.
Remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Using a blow dryer, blow charcoal clean of ash. Grill steaks over very hot coals for about 2
minutes on each side.When finished cooking, place meat in double thickness of aluminum foil, wrap, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Remove meat from foil, reserving foil and juices. Slice thinly across the grain of the meat. Return to foil pouch and toss with juice. Serve with
grilled peppers and onions, if desired.docsmom - 8-26-2009 at 09:02 PM
Pompano, sounds perfect my friend, thanks so much. With the sweetness from the fruit and the spicyness of the chilis it sounds exactly perfect! It
will be on my grill tomorrow and hopefully will put a smile on docsdad's mug.
I'll let you know.
And thanks to you too Loretana, that sounds like the perfect recipe for the skirt steak that 's on my grocery list and it'll be on our grill Saturday.
I'm thinking the brown sugar will give it the carmelization I'm always looking for. But seriously, no way I'm gonna use a hair dryer to blow the ash
off the charcoal. Too much work for me......(was that a joke?) .... I'll post a report after I cook it and let you know if the skipped step messed
it up! AmoPescar - 8-27-2009 at 05:06 PM
Hi Mom,
It's my favorite meat in tacos and burritos, so I'v e done a little research on the web looking for recipes myself. You could try this web site for
his Al Pastor recipe.
He a young man who loves it and has done some research into finding out how to prepare it. From what I've always heard and read, many Mexican chefs
or cooks have their family or restaurant recipes which they closely guard and are unwilling to share...or they "might have to kill you."
I love this site for it's wide variety of recipes of any type and/or nationality.
Just click on "Mexican" under the International recipes.
Good luck with your quest. Let us all know how it turns out.
Miguelamo :tumble
Eco-Disaster
The Gull - 8-28-2009 at 03:36 AM
Blowing ash with a hair dryer?
What could be more hostile to the environment?
Wait there is more!!!
Double strength aluminum foil and plastic bags - holy pollution Batman, when is this destruction of the earth's natural resources going to stop?
Santiago - 8-31-2009 at 06:53 AM
I tried both Pomp's and Loretana's recipes this weekend. Pomp's uses pork loin and says to grill 2 to 4 minutes per side and it's not kidding. I
slightly over did it and the pork turned tough. However, the smokey salsa that's related to this recipe is very good. Everyone wanted the recipe for
it. The marinade was awesome.
Lorentana's was also very good and was the better of the two, only because I over-cooked the pork. Also, I learned that there is an 'outside' and and
'inside' skirt steak. Had no idea. I cooked this two times, the first I marinaded overnight and the second for 4 hours. Second was better.
Here is the 2 Chile Smokey Salsa - well worth trying:
* 8 large dried guajillo chiles or New Mexico chiles, stemmed, seeded, coarsely torn
* 2 cups hot water
* 1/2 medium onion, halved lengthwise through core end
* 3 garlic cloves, peeled
* 1 to 2 chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotles in adobo
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* Coarse kosher salt
Preparation
Place torn chiles in bowl. Add 2 cups hot water; soak at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain chiles, reserving soaking liquid.
Heat small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to dry skillet; cook until browned in spots, about 6 minutes for garlic and 10
minutes for onion. Trim core from onion. Place onion and garlic in blender. Add drained chiles, 1 cup soaking liquid, 1 chipotle chile, 1 teaspoon
adobo, cilantro, and lime juice; puree until smooth. Add remaining chipotle and 1 teaspoon adobo, if desired; puree. Transfer to bowl. Season to taste
with coarse salt. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.
[Edited on 8-31-2009 by Santiago]docsmom - 8-31-2009 at 02:32 PM
I did make Pomp's al pastor recipe and it was fantastic! The marinade was delicious, the husband cooked the pork perfectly and the grilled pineapple
added just the flavor I was craving. We garnished it with fresh pico de gallo and some red chili & garlic salsa that we already had. It was so
good that it will be the featured dish for an informal gathering we're having this weekend. Thanks Pompano for the great recipe!
I didn't do Loretana's beef recipe 'cuz I ran out of weekend before I ran out of recipes.............
Santiago, please tell, what's the difference between inside & outside skirt steak? I'm not sure which one I have at home.
Thanks!Santiago - 8-31-2009 at 02:58 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by docsmom
Santiago, please tell, what's the difference between inside & outside skirt steak? I'm not sure which one I have at home.
Thanks!
From CHOW web site:
Beef skirt steak
Other Names: Bavette aloyau or hampe (French), carne de falda or falda residual (Spanish), fajita (Latin American), goose-skirt or thin skirt
(British), Philadelphia steak, spuntatura di lombata, bavetta oculo de aba, or lombatello sottile (Italian).
General Description: Skirt steak is a thin, long, fan-shaped cut from the beef plate (belly) primal. Like its neighbor the hanger steak, skirt steak
is one of the most flavorful of all steaks. There are two types of skirt: inside and outside, with inside skirt preferred because it doesn’t have as
much membrane to be removed. This belt-shaped flap of tender meat is the source of the word fajita (“belt” in Spanish). Skirt steak is the authentic
meat for fajitas, preferably cooked over natural wood or charcoal. This cut is particularly delicious when marinated because its loose texture allows
it to absorb flavors and its strong taste holds up to bold seasonings.
Part of Animal: The inside skirt is cut from the plate (middle belly section) and is attached to the inside of the rib cage. The outside skirt
consists of the diaphragm covered by a thick whitish membrane (the peritoneum) that is normally removed before sale.
Characteristics: This cut is coarse textured with a pronounced grain that runs crosswise at a slight angle. The lean meat should be practically free
of outside fat. There is a 3-pound inside skirt and a 1.5-pound outside skirt steak on each side of the carcass.docsmom - 8-31-2009 at 04:19 PM
Hmmmm.
Guess I know the difference when I open it up and take a look at the underside (surely where the butcher would hide the membrane...) I think I bought
about 2 lbs and from the CHOW description it could be either.
Guess I'm not a very thorough reader either 'cuz I just now saw the reference to "inside" skirt steak in Loretana's recipe. Oops.
Thanks Santiago.
so I'd like to fix him something
terrific for dinner and cheer him up 
I'll let you know.
