Skirt Steak With Cilantro Garlic Sauce

Tonight we had beek skirt steak on the menu, which normally means Fajita Salad or Beef Salad. We decided to try a new recipe we found on the internet for

Skirt Steak With Cilantro Garlic Sauce

- serves 6 -

Ingredients

For the sauce:
1 medium garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

For the steak:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds skirt steak, cut to manageable grilling sizes (you may have to do batches)

Procedure

1. Combine the steak spices in a small bowl. Pat the steak dry so that the surface is tacky, then rub the spice mixture into both sides. Turn on the burner to high under the grill pan to get it heating.

2. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and mash to a paste with the salt (the flat edge of a chef’s knife works well for this). Transfer to a blender or mini food processor with the rest of the sauce ingredients, and blend until smooth.

3. Rub the grill pan with a bit of oil, and grill the steak about 5 minutes per side for a typical cut (medium rare). Once it’s cooked and rested, slice thinly and drizzle with the sauce.

On the web site for this recipe, they had a good picture that looked delicious. We thought this would be a sure-fire good recipe. So, we tried it.

I think I can sum up this review a lot quicker than normal. This recipe is TERRIBLE!!! Never make this. The rub on the meat was overloaded with cumin and salt. The sauce tasted like rancid olive oil. No, our olive oil isn't rancid, but adding cilantro and garlic to it sure made it taste bad. In fact, there is way too much olive oil in this recipe. I will never make this again...it has seriously scarred me. It could be one of the worst meals I've ever consumed. Lesson learned.

Overall Rating: 0 (scale of 100)
Price: Too much -- it wasn't worth a penny.

Johnny Carinos

Sunday Janda and I went to an old favorite....

Johnny Carinos
8400 I-40 West
Amarillo, TX (806) 468-9375

Sunday after church, we had to run a few errands in town, so we thought we might enjoy some alone time (the boys were staying with the grandparents), with a nice meal out. Being a Sunday, a lot of places that we'd like to try are usually closed. So -- we opted to dine at our old faithful...Johnny Carinos. The place in Amarillo is usually pretty well, although we've had a few bad experiences lately. Well, maybe not bad, but just disappointing.

It was nearly two o'clock when we arrived Sunday afternoon, and the place was still busy. I don't like sitting in the middle at a table because everyone is walking by, it's noisy, and I just like to eat my meal and enjoy my company in relative peace. We requested a booth, but they didn't have any available, so, guess what -- we're stuck in the middle. This time was a bit different, just being the two of us. We both sat on the inside of the table (not in the aisle), so we didn't have to worry about folks walking behind and hitting us. I know this may sound picky, but it just feels cramped in this area, not enjoyable in my opinion. We always ask for someplace NOT in that middle room, most of the time they are very accomodating.

When we placed our drink orders, we got salad as well. This time, they informed us that it would be 99 cents extra for the salad. I think the economy is catching up to their menu prices. Last time we were here, they didn't charge for salad, but they really skimped on serving sizes. I think I prefer an add-on charge for the salad over cheating me out of entrees, but that's just something that will happen, I suppose. We got Ceasar salad, one of our favorites. The last few times we've had the Ceasar salad here, the dressing tastes VERY fishy. It's easy to pick it out, it's a bit overpowering. I don't really mind it, but I think Janda does. It's the first thing she said after tking a bite. We've had a lot of ceasar salads at home, and it may be that there's such a contrast in dressings that makes the fish stand out. I know it's supposed to be in there, I just think it should be a supporting player, not the main event.

Janda's favorite dish here is the Angel Hair with Artichokes (pictured above). It's angel hair pasta (of course!) with roma tomatoes, garlic, capers, basil, black olives and parmesan. The sauce for this dish is light and tangy. I enjoy having small bites of her dish. Normally, she just gets the plain dish (without meat), but I talked her into trying the chicken with it today. For just a dollar more, it's money well spent. It was good, as usual.

My choice, was a bit more difficult. I like trying new things, but I think I've found a keeper here. Some of the dishes I've tried are Chicken Marsala (nice wine sauce, I like it), Jalapeno Garlic Talapia (pretty bland, not hot), and Skilletini (not a big fan). Lately, I've been gettin the Spicy Romano Chicken. It's made with bowtie pasta, artichokes, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and green onions, all topped with cayenne pepper romano cream sauce. It's not as hot as the name implies, but it has more heat than probably anything else on the menu. The sun-dried tomatoes in this dish are one of the big players, I like the taste very much. Janda says they taste like raisins. Of course, they are a bit sweeter than regular tomatoes, but not THAT sweet, I'd say. The artichokes also play well with the creamy romano sauce, though they usually don't put but three hearts in the whole thing. Usually, I can eat half of this dish, and save the other half for leftovers. This time, I ate the whole thing, and was miserable. I shouldn't eat that much, but it was so GOOD!

The service was good, our food was good, and being with my sweet wife for a dinner together was wonderful. You can bet we'll be back, Johnny Carinos is a reliable place to go for a good meal with someone special.

Ben's Overall Rating: 88 (scale of 100)
Price $15.00

Janda's Overall Rating: 85 (scale of 100)
Price $13.00

Yam Nua -- Beef Salad UPDATE

A lot of times, we'll try a recipe and not be completely satisfied with it. Such is the case with our previous beef salad recipe. While it's pretty good, I was never really satisfied with it. It just seemed to be too...something. I think it was too sour for my tastes, although Janda likes sour things, so she really liked it.

After a brief search on the internet, I had some new ideas to try. Armed with pen and paper, I started out making lunch with the intentions of making a new sauce for this beef salad. Here's what I've come up with.

Beef Salad
1/3 C fish sauce
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 C Rice vinegar
1 t basil
1/2 t mint
1/3 C water
1/2 t ground dried hot chilies
1/8 t ground ginger

2 lbs beef skirt steak

I started marinating the skirt steak in Red Creek marinade. I try to do this at room temperature, and let it go for about 30 minutes. While it was marinating, I mixed the sauce ingredients above in a large skillet, whisking to combine. I started heating the sauce on low heat, just to get it warm, mixing occasionally.

I broil my skirt steak on HI, five minutes per side. In our oven, I put the steak on a cast iron griddle, with the oven rack as close to the top of the oven as possible. Just five minutes per side will get the steak up to about a medium-rare, depending on how thick your steak is. Don't worry about getting it too done, we'll finish it off later.

When the steak is finished broiling, take it from the oven and slice into bite sized pieces. Normally, I split the steak lengthwise, then cut into half-inch strips. Place the sliced steak into the skillet with the sauce mixture, and bring up to a simmer. This can cook for a while, let it continue to warm as you assemble the salad.

As with our previous recipe, take regular rice and salad -- including cucumber, tomato, onion, or whatever else you'd like.

I really liked this recipe a lot more than our other one. It wasn't too sour, and the spice was a bit more than the previous method. Something else I should mention -- a lot of these ingredients, especially the fish sauce and soy sauce, differ in intensity between brands, but also between bottles of the same brand. It isn't like sugar where one tablespoon always has the same sweetness as another brand. What I do is start here, and adjust accordingly. My fish sauce is pretty strong, so I had to add the water to tone it down a bit. It just takes some tasting to get an idea of how much of each ingredient will make your recipe shine. That's part of the fun of cooking, I think. Don't you think?

Overall Rating: 86 (scale of 100)
Price $1.00 per serving