Arrachera, aka Mexican skirt steak, is a great cut for tacos. It is tender, highly flavorful like a ribeye, and cooks very quickly. The skirt steak is best marinated overnight to achieve maximum flavor. To slice the skirt steak, always cut against the grain. If you cut with the grain, it will be tough and you’ll have chewy tacos.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Marinating Time8 hourshrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Beef, Latin American, main course, Mexican
Servings: 4
Author: Alex Gorgos
Equipment
charcoal grill
chimney starter
charcoal
food mallet
Ingredients
1 1/2lbsinner skirt steak
1tbspolive oil
1limejuiced
4garlic cloves minced
2tspcumin
2tsppaprika
1small jalapeños finely minced
1/2tspsalt
Instructions
Using a food mallet, hammer down the skirt steak on both sides until it’s a consistent thickness.
Marinate the skirt steak with all of the ingredients for 8 hours.
Get the charcoal gray in the chimney starter. Pour the charcoal in the grill. Lay the skirt steak directly over the charcoal.
Grill for 4-5 minutes a side.
Let the skirt steak rest for 10 minutes. Cut into chunks and thinly slice against the grain.
Serve the skirt steak on corn tortillas with cilantro, onion, jalapeños, and your favorite hot sauce.
I was recently on vacation in the beautiful country of Belize and picked up some jerk seasoning from a farmers market. Belizeans have their own version that differs from Jamaican jerk seasoning. The extra ingredients that aren’t part of Jamaican jerk are dried oregano and orange peel. In addition, they use allspice leaves instead of ground allspice berries. Since you’ll have a problem finding the leaves, ground will do. I chose to use wings, but any pieces of chicken will work great. This seasoning is also really good on pork, turkey, fish and shrimp.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Marinating Time8 hourshrs
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Belizean
Keyword: appetizer, Belizean, Chicken, Latin American, main course
Author: Alex Gorgos
Equipment
chimney starter
charcoal
grill
Ingredients
8largewhole chicken wings
Belizean Jerk Dry Rub Seasoning
1tbsphabanero pepper powder
1tbspgarlic powder
1tbsp onion powder
1tbspdried oregano
1tbspdried thyme
2tspground ginger
2tsppaprika
2tspcumin
2tspblack pepper
2tspground coriander
2tspallspice
2tspground dried orange peel
2tspsalt
Instructions
Mix together the jerk ingredients.
Liberally season the wings. Let marinate for 8 hours; preferably overnight.
Let the charcoal get grey in a chimney starter. Pour the grey charcoal into the grill. Place the wings over the charcoal.
Sear the wings on all sides for 10 minutes in total.
Pull the wings off to the side away from the charcoal. Cover the grill with the vent open. Grill for 20 more minutes; occasionally turning to cook evenly.
Serve the wings with fried plantains; sweet or savory.
Lamb shanks are absolutely one of my favorite cuts. Cooking them in a tagine is a perfect way to get the meat to fall of the bone while requiring little added liquid. This recipe is a traditional Moroccan way of preparation, using preserved lemon, cumin, saffron, prunes, and almonds. To help speed up the cooking process, have your butcher cut your shanks into 3 pieces instead of leaving them whole. Serve the lamb shanks with couscous.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time2 hourshrs50 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Moroccan
Keyword: lamb, main course, Moroccan, north african
Servings: 4
Author: Alex Gorgos
Equipment
tagine
Ingredients
3tbspgheeor butter
1small yellow onion finely chopped
5garlic cloves minced
1tbsp cumin
1tbsp turmeric
1/2preserved lemonfinely chopped
4lamb shanks cut into 3 pieces
1tspsaffron mixed with 1/4 cup hot water
1tspsalt
1cupdried prunes
1/4cupparsley chopped
1/4cupslivered almonds
Instructions
Melt the ghee in a tagine over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 10 minutes.
Add in the garlic, cumin, turmeric, and preserved lemon. Cook for 1 minute.
Add in the lamb shanks. Brown on all sides for 8 minutes.
Pour in the saffron. Add in the prunes. Season with salt.
Place the cover on the tagine. Put in a 275 degree preheated oven. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.
Sprinkle the parsley and almonds on top of the lamb shanks.