Skirting the Issue

The Rio Mirage is one of my favorite Mexican joints in the Far West Valley, serving up delicious dishes since the early 70's.  I usually opt for the “Ocho” when ordering to get my tamale on, however, during the last visit to the Surprise, AZ location I decided to try the Carne Asada to change things up a bit. The Chef at the Rio uses top sirloin and what could be better than that, right?  The dish arrived and was flavorful, hot, as well as dry and tough.  The Top Sirloin makes the Carne Asada sound pretty upscale but is not the best choice for this particular situation.  It dawned on me that skirt steak would be the way to go, providing both tenderness (if sliced properly) as well as flavor and a chat with my server for the evening confirmed that – he uses skirt steak seasoned with a little garlic salt, allowing the taste of the meat to be the star vice the seasonings.

Skirt Steak

Enter Alton Brown – you remember him from “Good Eats” and now starring on YouTube, brimming with good advice and humor as is to be expected.  What does this have to do with skirt  steak one might ask?  One of his YouTube offerings is video on...wait for it...skirt steak!  Seems our video chef takes the same minimalist approach to skirt steak as does my server – salt and extreme heat.  Season the meat with kosher salt and allow it sit for about an hour at room temp (yep room temp, it won't be a problem as you'll see in a second).  Make a fire in the grill with with natural lump charcoal and after the coals get going, spread them to form a bed roughly the size of the piece of meat.  Drop aforementioned skirt steak on directly on the coals  (goodbye bacteria) and leave it for about two minutes (always pay close attention) then flip it and do the other side. Pull the steak, knock any bits of charcoal trying to hitch a ride and then wrap it in foil leaving the meat to sit for 15 minutes.

Now, I did take my servers advice and sprinkle on a little  granulated garlic before casting my steak into the fire, which accentuated the beefy goodness that is the skirt steak.  Be sure to slice the steak across the grain or you'll need an ax to cut it, however, sliced properly it is tender and mouth watering – you'll be lucky if it even makes it to the table.