14/10/2011

Carne Asada

In Mexican cuisine, Carne Asada literally means "grilled meat". It is a simple meal of thin strips of marinated beef and served with guacamole, salsa and beans in a taco or tortilla wrap.

To keep it paleo we'll stick to guacamole and salsa, and use long strong spined lettuce leaves as the wraps - British cos lettuce is my favourite, with a strong spine, long supple leaves and a subtle bitterness.

Let's get marinating ...

Take some beef and slice it thin across the fibres of the meat. I used a medallion steak and a sirloin steak - it's what I had in.

Place the meat into a large bowl, squeeze some lime over, splash some Worcestershire Sauce in, add some sea salt, some avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of chilli powder suitable to your enjoyment.

Worcestershire Sauce is not strictly paleo so feel free to leave it out and maybe just blend a little anchovy puree or fermented shrimp with water instead.

Leave this to marinate overnight in the fridge, stirring in the morning to cook in the evening.

Wash and dry a few lettuce leaves, make up a guacamole and slice up a few tomatoes, pieces of cucumber and pickled chillis alongside.

To make good guacamole, take a couple of ripe avocados and put them into a bowl. Squeeze a little lime juice over and mash with a fork, the butt end of a rolling pin ... or just use a hand blender. For a real paleo treat, emulsify in a drizzle of avocado oil while blending.

Holy guacamole! That's good!

Using a grill, griddle or grill pan get the heat on and the metal hot.

Lay the strips of meat onto the grill and cook through.

Serve out onto a communal plate and get stuck in!