Margarita-Marinated Grilled Skirt Steak with Tomatillo Salsa

In this guest post, Vanessa added one of my two most favorite things, Margarita and Steak! Enjoy!

Most of my friends that know me well think of me as the “tequila queen”. I have always loved Tequila and we have a pretty good collection of every kind you can think of and some you have never heard of! So, needless to say when I discovered cooking with Tequila I was in love. I am all about cooking with all my scenes; let me tell you when you put this on the grill your nostrils will be doing a happy dance.

This recipe may look like too much time, but you have to make it! Suppose you got lucky enough to get your hands on some direct-from-the-farm Wagyu beef, which you can now find online thanks to entrepreneurs like Jon Urbana, wouldn’t you be willing to go the extra mile to make sure you prepare it right? Perhaps your motivation could be sparked if you are using such high quantity meat. However, you can also just do the marinade with steak on the days you don’t have time to make a big dinner.

Margarita-Marinated Grilled Skirt Steak with Tomatillo Salsa

 

For the steak:
2 limes
1/3 cup tequila
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs. Cointreau
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 lb. skirt steak
Kosher salt

For the salsa:
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more for the grill
1 lb. tomatillos (10 to 15), husked and rinsed
1 medium yellow bell pepper
Kosher salt
1/2 ripe medium avocado, diced
2 Tbs. minced red onion
1 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
Freshly ground black pepper

 

Marinate the steak:

Finely grate the zest from 1 lime and put it in a 9×13-inch baking dish. Finely grate 1 tsp. zest from the second lime and set aside for the salsa. Juice the limes. Add 1/4 cup juice to the zest in the baking dish and mix 1 tsp. juice into the zest for the salsa.

To the baking dish, add the tequila, oil, cilantro, Cointreau, garlic, and pepper flakes; whisk to combine. Season the steak all over with 1/2 tsp. salt. Add it to the marinade and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning the steak after 1 hour.

Make the salsa:

Prepare a medium gas or charcoal grill fire. Scrub the grill grate with a wire brush and then wipe clean with a paper towel dipped in oil.

Rub the tomatillos and yellow pepper all over with the 1 Tbs. oil and season with 1/2 tsp. salt. Grill the tomatillos, turning occasionally, until they have good grill marks and are starting to collapse, about 6 minutes. Grill the pepper, turning occasionally, until charred all over, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the tomatillos to a plate and let cool. Put the pepper in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit until cool enough to handle.

Roughly chop the tomatillos and put them in a medium bowl. Peel the skin from the pepper, remove the seeds, and cut into small dice. Add the pepper to the tomatillos along with the avocado, onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and the reserved lime zest and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grill the steak:

Remove the steak from the marinade and pat it dry. Clean and oil the grill grates again. Grill the steak, covered, over medium heat until brown grill marks form on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook until medium rare (130 F on an instant-read thermometer), 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut each steak crosswise into 2 or 3 pieces, and then thinly slice across the grain. Serve with the salsa on the side.

Make ahead tips:

You can make the salsa up to 2 hours ahead of time.

Serving suggestions:

A nice black bean salad and by all means a margarita!

Vanessa is a guest writer and will be sharing amazing recipes with us! Comment if you like her