Carne Asada is a Mexican style grilled steak, using skirt steak. It’s seasoned with cumin & salt, and is chilled for at least 45 minutes (and up to 24 hours). It’s either grilled over charcoal or using a gas grill, then fresh garlic is rubbed over the meat. Sliced thin, it’s perfect for tacos, burritos and even over a salad. The quick refried beans are made with canned pinto beans, and a few simple ingredients.
If I had to pick a comfort food that brings me back to my childhood, it’s Mexican food. My father, God rest his soul, was Hispanic. For as long as I can remember, he always had a bowl of homemade salsa on the table, and he loved tortillas and refried beans.
While I seem to have inherited more of my mother’s German light skin, I’ve definitely inherited his love of beans and tortillas.
Unfortunately, I have never been able to find a canned refried bean that didn’t taste gross.
I am still trying to find my own authentic recipe for making refried beans the way that my Nana did. I like for my beans to have some texture to them (definitely not pureed) with a very subtle flavor of pork. I have no doubt that there’s a lot of lard involved, too. I’ll keep looking, and when I find the Holy Grail of refried beans recipe– you can count on me sharing it on my blog. I promise.
Carne Asada is one of my favorite choices for tacos or burritos. There are plenty of recipes for Carne Asada– some involve marinating the meat in citrus. You can use either flank steak or skirt steak.
This particular recipe doesn’t use a marinade, but it’s quick and flavorful. As with many of my recipes, these come from America’s Test Kitchen. Here’s how and why they developed the recipe:
To create a recipe for a carne asada platter that satisfies like the
original, we started with skirt steak. Since it’s most tender and juicy
when cooked to medium, it allowed us to create plenty of char on its
exterior without overcooking it. We eschewed the standard lime juice
marinade in favor of a dry salting to promote faster browning on the
grill and then gave the steak a squeeze of fresh lime before serving. To
speed up charring even more and create a large enough area of
concentrated heat to cook all four steaks at once, we cut the bottom
from a disposable aluminum roasting pan and used it to corral the coals.
For heady garlic flavor, we treated the cooked steaks like bruschetta,
rubbing their rough crusts with a smashed garlic clove.
I’ve made these twice– once using our Weber grill…
Because we are cooking for two, nowadays, the gas grill was the easier version, because we use less charcoal.
I did find the gas grill method less fussy, because I didn’t have to cut up an aluminum pan to corral the coals.
The refried beans are quite easy to make, and I’ve made them a few times. Instead of using lard, bacon is fried and the rendered fat is used. I’ve tweaked America’s Test Kitchens recipe by grating the onion and garlic, instead of finely chopping it. I didn’t like the texture of the onion, but wanted the flavor.) This recipe uses canned beans and some added water.
I seasoned the beans with salt, to taste, and heated up some tortillas (beans AND tortillas are a must).
Like my father, I need some sort of salsa to go with my Mexican food. Pico de Gallo is my first choice. So, I picked some of our homegrown tomatoes, added chopped onion and fresh cilantro, salt and pepper and plenty of fresh lime juice. There!
Once the meat comes off the grill, I rubbed fresh garlic all over it, and it was time to chow down!
Ah, the simple things in life. Some sliced carne asada, with a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice, fresh pico de gallo, and a dab of sour cream– buen apetito!
NOTE: You do need to allow the meat to be seasoned and refrigerated for at least 45 minutes and up to 24 hours in advance. Best of all, this entire dinner was ready in less than an hour.
TASTING NOTES: It’s important to not overcook the skirt steak, or it will become tough and dry– so pay special close attention to not cook this meat beyond medium-rare– about 4-8 minutes total. Using a meat thermometer is really helpful. The meat had great flavor, whether cooked over charcoal or gas.
The refried beans: They were good, and I prefer the texture of the beans with grated onion and garlic. This way, it imparts flavor but I wasn’t chewing on the onion. These beans aren’t anywhere close to my Nana’s slow-cooked pinto beans that are fried in lard — definitely not low-fat, but it’s what I grew up with and love best. But these will do, and are far better than canned refried beans.
Mexican-Style Grilled Steak (Carne Asada)
Equipment
- 13 x 9-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan (if using charcoal)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 2-pound skirt steak, trimmed, pounded 1/4 inch thick and cut with grain into 4 equal steaks
- 1 clove garlic peeled and smashed
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Combine salt and cumin in small bowl. Sprinkle salt mixture evenly over both sides of steaks. Transfer steaks to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 45 minutes or up to 24 hours. Meanwhile, if using charcoal, use kitchen shears to remove bottom of disposable pan and discard, reserving pan collar.
- FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, place disposable pan collar in center of grill over bottom vent and pour coals into even layer in collar. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
- FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place steaks on grill (if using charcoal, arrange steaks over coals in collar) and cook, uncovered, until well browned on first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Flip steaks and continue to cook until well browned on second side and meat registers 130 degrees, 2 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer steaks to carving board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Rub garlic thoroughly over 1 side of steaks. Slice steaks against grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices and serve with lime wedges.
Notes
Quick and Simple Refried Beans
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon
- 1 small onion chopped fine
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 can pinto beans, with juice 15-ounce
- 1/4 cup water
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat bacon in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until fat renders and bacon crisps, 7 to 10 minutes, flipping bacon halfway through. Remove bacon and reserve for another use.
- Increase heat to medium, add onion to fat in skillet, and cook until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add beans and their liquid and water and bring to simmer.Cook, mashing beans with potato masher, until mixture is mostly smooth, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Season with salt to taste, and serve.
Looks like you learned from your father (or mother well). It all sounds delicious.
I rarely think to cook Mexican food, but now I have a great resource for making this steak and refried beans. You really provided wonderful instructions and photos to recreate this dish.
Oh goodie. I've always wanted to see more of your Mexican food recipes! Thank you!
I found the recipe for the beans a few years ago. I was skeptical but made them. I will never buy canned refried beans ever again. I leave the bacon in the beans though.