I’ve partnered with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. on behalf of the Beef Checkoff to create a beef dish in 45 minutes similar to last night’s MasterChef challenge. I felt like I was competing again on MasterChef season 1 as I embarked on this challenge. Out of all the cuts of beef, I chose to work with a Hanger Steak. I’ve actually never prepared a Hanger Steak so I was excited to try a new cut. According to Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner., Hanger Steak is a thicker cut within the short plate that is full of flavor with a coarse texture. It is best to marinate and grill. I immediately thought to make grilled steak tacos with the Hanger. I finally decided upon Carne Asada tacos.
Carne Asada is a marinated and grilled beef. It is a Mexican dish that can be simply prepared with salt and pepper, but using a marinade to add flavor is traditional. For the marinade, I combined a variety of chile peppers and aromatics. To speed up the marinating process, I vacuum sealed the beef in the marinade.
The key to Carne Asada is the flavor that the grill brings. To achieve this, preheat a charcoal grill to medium high heat. You can also use a gas grill if that’s what you have at home.
When grilling, this cut of beef is best prepared medium-rare to medium. For medium-rare, I grilled the hanger steaks until the internal temperature read 140 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. The steaks then rested on a cutting board and entered into what is called carryover cooking. The steaks continued to cook to about medium-rare 145 degrees F.
What I love about tacos is the ease of presentation. Mexican ingredients are naturally colorful which makes it easy to create a bright beautiful dish. I served the thinly sliced Carne Asada with toppings of different textures and flavors.
One of the things that made me stand out on MasterChef is the fact that I add flavor to every component of a dish. I like to say I add flavor on flavor. So, to add flavor to the corn tortillas, I cook them in a hot skillet in beef fat (tallow). The beef fat adds flavor and the high heat of the skillet browns the tortillas adding a smokiness.
I hope you are encouraged to try a new cut of beef the next time you are at a meat market or your local grocery store. I had a lot of fun working with Hanger Steak for the first time. I’m now a fan of this rich meaty and tender steak.
Carne Asada Tacos
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1-pound Hanger Steaks (2 whole Hanger Steaks)
- 1 whole dried ancho chile pepper, stems and seeds removed
- 1 whole New Mexico dried chile pepper, stems and seeds removed
- 1 chipotle pepper, canned in adobo
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice, from about 1 orange (preferably sour oranges)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon brown coconut sugar
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup chopped sweet onion
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 7 radishes
- Beef Tallow
- 12 (5 ½-inch) white corn tortillas
- Fresh limes wedges
- Cilantro-lime crema:
- ¼ cup sour cream or Greek or non-dairy yogurt
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives
- ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
- Sea salt
Instructions
Place the dried ancho and New Mexico chilies on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 20 seconds or until pliable. Transfer to the jar of a blender.
Add the chipotle pepper, orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cilantro, cumin and coconut sugar to the jar. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
Season to taste with the kosher salt. Transfer half of the sauce to a vacuum seal bag and the other half to a small serving bowl.
Add an extra 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt to the vacuum seal bag. Shake to incorporate the salt. Add the Hanger Steaks to the bag. Vacuum seal. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (If you have time you can marinade the steaks for up to 2 hours.)
While the steaks are marinating, prepare the toppings. In a serving bowl, combine the chopped onion, cilantro and sea salt. Stir.
Using a fine grater, grate the radishes into a paper towel-lined bowl. Bring the edges of the towel together and squeeze out the excess liquid from the radishes over the bowl. Place the drained shredded radishes into a small serving bowl.
For the cilantro-lime crema, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, cilantro, chives and garlic into a small serving bowl. Stir. Season with sea salt to taste.
Heat your charcoal grill over medium-high heat.
Remove the steaks from the marinade and place them directly over the open flames on the grill.
Cook, turning halfway through, until the steaks are well browned on outside and center reaches 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board to rest for about 5 minutes. The steaks will continue carryover cooking resulting in medium-rare 145 degrees F steaks.
Slice the steaks thinly against the grain.
To char the tortillas, warm a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Melt a couple teaspoons beef tallow and add a tortilla. Cook until the tortilla bubbles and browns. Flip and repeat. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the additional tortillas.
Serve the sliced steaks immediately with the browned tortillas, additional marinade sauce, onions and cilantro, grated radishes, cilantro-lime crema and lime wedges.
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