Tasty Tacos: Carne Asada Steak Tacos from Rural Mexico

I am currently reading "It Must've Been Something I Ate", which is the sequel to Jeffrey Steingarten's "The Man Who Ate Everything". If you enjoy food and have not read either of these, I highly recommend doing so. They are both an anthology of essays or articles he has amassed over the years, each one focusing on something food related. Some of my favourite articles include ones on Blue Fin Tuna, writings describing the history of chocolate, his constant search of perfecting our favourite foods and finding the best of the best, whether it is ketchup or the perfect roast turkey... One of the best elements of these two books is that whenever possible, recipes are included which optimize this search of perfection. To name a few tempting creations; the "perfect" potato dauphinois, the "best" hot chocolate (from a famous French chef), and what I tried just recently; Carne Asada Tacos.

Carne Asada Tacos
By: Jeffrey Steingarten

Salsas: Ranchera, Roja and Guacamole
Ranchera
1/2 lbs. white onions, peeled
1/2 lbs. ripe red tomatoes, halved
6 sprigs cilantro
1 tsp. salt
Roja
1/4 cup dried chiles de arbol
1 small tomato, halved
1/4 tsp. salt
Guacamole
1/4 lbs. avocado
1/2 white onion cut into chunks
5 sprigs cilantro
1/4 plus 2 tbls. water

Carne Asada: The Meat
2 flank steaks (about 2 lbs. each)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves

Wheat Tortillas
1 lbs. flour
1 tbls. salt
1/2 cup minus 1 tbls. lard at room temperature
1 1/4 cup very warm water

For the salsas:
Ranchera
Dice the onion and tomatoes. Chop and add the cilantro, as well as the salt. Yields: 2 cups.
Roja
Snap off the stems of the chilies and toast them over medium-high heat, stirring often, until dark but not black. Place tomato halves in a small saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook until it gives off an orange foam. Put toasted chilies in a blender and add tomato cooking water until just covered. Add the tomatoes and salt and puree until smooth.
Guacamole
Thin style. Peel and pit the avocado and mash. In a blender, puree together the onions, cilantro and water. Pour this mixture over the avocado and mash until combined.

The Meat
Slice each flank steak into 2 thin sheets of meat. Prepare marinade by mixing orange juice, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and olive oil and whisk together. Crush the garlic and add to mixture. 20 or 30 min before grilling the meat, cover the meat in marinade (I recommend doing this in a large ziploc). Then brush off garlic and grill over high heat and cook until desired doneness (medium-rare is recommended). Allow the meat to rest and slice the meat, the recipe suggests into 1/4" cubes.

Wheat Tortillas
Add the flour and salt to a large bowl, mix. Roll the lard in the flour, breaking it into pieces and coating them in flour (much like making pie pastry, so I used a pastry cutter). When finished, the lard pieces should be the size of rice grains. Mix in the warm water, using 1/3 of the water at a time. Gather the dough and knead it in the bowl, collecting all of the flour, and when finished it will look somewhat shaggy. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll them well in flour. Using a rolling pin, roll* out the dough into a thin circle. This takes some practice, but I find it is best understood by doing it yourself and finding the method that works for you. Don't stress too much about perfection, these are hand-made after all! Once you have your tortilla rolled out nice and think (just think of the thickness of store-bought tortillas), add it to a preheated frying pan on medium-low. If you have the right temperature, your tortillas should puff in several places in under a minute and brown lightly in approx. 2 min. Play with the heat until you get it right. White and dry tortillas are a sign of too high heat.
*You do need to roll out flour tortillas, they don't work in tortilla presses (meant for corn tortillas).

I really enjoyed making my own tortillas, they are fun to make and so much more flavourful than store-bought. Try them for yourself! It will make you, and the people you share it with, appreciate this meal all the more. Once you have all of the components made, serve them buffet style so people can build their own tacos. I liked mine served with lime wedges and sour cream, but it is personal preference. ¡Salud!