Mexican Barbecue

Well there's still good weather for a barbecue, and you just gotta love a good Mexican carne asada . (grilled meat) So let's put one together.

Marinate the meat

I am not sure what meat to tell you to buy, because they sell the beef differently here. The milanesa cut is a really thin steak. Use something tender, and have your butcher at the grocery store cut some very, very thin slices. If you had a Mexican grocery store nearby, you would tell him you want milanesa or bistek .

My friend Tere Jimenez gave me her recipe for her meat marinade and it's easy and really yummy and our favorite here at home. (at left)

Squeeze out enough oj to half a blender full (about two cups). Cut your onions into chunks small enough to blend up and then pepper and salt or chicken bouillion to taste. Let your meat sit in the marinade in the fridge several hours, or overnight if you do it ahead of time. The acid in the fresh orange juice tenderizes the meat really nicely. And it's ready to throw on the grill just like that. If you want to skip the marinade, you can just salt your bistek, as many do, and you'll still get a fabulous taco when you add a good sauce and guacamole, which we will get to in just a minute. When the steaks are so thin as they should be, it really only takes just a few minutes on the grill on each side.

The rest of the stuff for your tacos:

A good sauce

You can go red or green, or do both. Let's do red first and then a green.

On the stove cook the tomatoes and the jalapenos. Heat factor would be according to your taste. We do a proportion of two jalapenos to each Roma tomato and it makes a pretty hot sauce. Once the skin breaks on the tomatoes and the chiles change color, it's done enough. Doesn't have to be super boiled. I put the tomatoes and chiles in the blender. (when Arnulfo makes this, he takes the skin off the tomatoes and I don't bother so try it both ways and see if you notice the difference.) Add maybe two ladles of the water you cooked the tomatoes in to the blender. Add half an onion (chunks) and a clove of garlic to the blender and blend it. We leave it chunkier, some like it to a smooth puree. Salt to taste. We add chopped cilantro to this and some people don't like that so you decide.

Green sauce

This is pretty much the same procedure as the red, just use the small green tomatillos instead of the red tomatoes. I do enough tomatillos to fill my blender half way and would probably use four jalapenos for that for a medium salsa. Cook the tomatillos and chiles a little more for this one than you would for the red sauce and add a teaspoon of sugar to cut the acidity. Unless you really don't like cilantro, it's a standard for the green sauce. Lots of folks here add chunks of avocado to this sauce which is good, but only do that if you're likely to use it all up on the same day.

The guacamole

You're really going to want some guacamole for your tacos. Mexicans don't really do guacamole and chips like we do in the US, so if you want some for both dip and tacos then make a bunch! Keeps in the fridge for the next day just fine when you put lime juice in it.

3-4 large ripe avocadoes (firm to the touch, but gives some with light pressure. Avoid rock hard or squishy avocadoes)

Squish your avocadoes with a fork. Doesn't have to be super fine – chunky is good! You might find it annoying that I don't put specific amounts of the ingredients, but it's so variable according to taste. Be flex. We put in about half an onion finely chopped, maybe two or three Roma tomatoes finely chopped, and a small handful of cilantro also finely chopped. I like the juice of two freshly squeezed limes in it (which also helps keep it from turning brown) and Arnulfo prefers it without the lime. Salt to taste.

Amanda can eat a large bowl of this all by herself. If we're making it just for grownups, if I made red sauce I will put several tablespoons of the hot sauce in there or one or two fresh jalapenos finely chopped.

Now all you need are some hot corn tortillas and some limes.

Heat your tortillas and they really have to be freshly heated. Heat a few and make tacos as you go instead of a whole bunch and having tepid tortillas on the table. Just won't work. Everyone puts their own tacos together as they go. You can't pre-prepare them and have them on the table – the juice leaks into the tortilla and disintegrates it. So take your fresh tortilla in your hand, slap on some of that good meat, squeeze a lime on it, a little sauce, a little guacamole, and you're done!

Don't even think of putting any gringo taco sour cream, lettuce or grated cheese on there. No hard gringo taco shells either. If you gotta have a sprinkle of something, you can put an extra sprinkle of chopped onions and cilantro on there. Under no circumstances do you ever heat corn tortillas in the microwave. Completely ruins the texture. Heat them straight on the grill where you're doing your meat.

Low fat and healthy! (yes, the avocado has fat, but it's the good fat. Just don't eat the whole bowl, although I know, it's tempting. And avoid fried tortilla chips completely!)

Nopales

Now our typical no-fat side for this (no potato salad or anything like that) would be cactus. If you're fortunate enough to live someplace where you can get fresh nopales , or cactus , try it. (California, Arizona probably, and some of you more northern States might find it in a Mexican grocery store). Just rinse the individual pieces whole and chuck them straight on the grill next to your meat. Check for prickles. They should have been scraped and “de-prickled” before they get to you, but if there's one or two on there, make sure you scrape it off with a knife. You might spray them with Pam and sprinkle a little salt on them. Cook both sides until very well done – they change color to a deeper green and get soft. We would throw one of those onto the taco itself or just eat them plain on the side.

The variation on this, or along with it, would be the very refreshing and light (and delicious) cactus salad . Now, don't knock it til you've tried it. Cooked cactus is a little bit like the texture of green beans. Very nutritious too.

If you can get the fresh nopales, six or seven good sized ones should do, or up to ten small ones. The smaller ones are more tender. Cut them into little squares and boil with salt until well cooked. They will make a lot of foam. Some folks throw in a pinch of baking soda against that. Once they have boiled several minutes, they should change color to the deep green and you can take them off the stove. Don't let them cook too long. Then you are going to put them in a colander and let them drain a good while. Cactus is “drooly” like okra so let them sit a while and then rinse well and let them sit and drain some more.

Then you are going to add – guess – chopped fresh tomatoes, onion and cilantro. Your shopping list is short! Salt to taste. Sounds simple, but it's really very good and really good for you. Should look like a nice confetti mix. If you want to squeeze a little lime juice on there too, go ahead, although it's surprisingly tasty with just the other ingredients.

If you can't get the fresh cactus, if your grocery store has even a small Mexican section, I can bet you there's a jar of cut up and cooked cactus in there, you just weren't looking for it. Just empty out your jar into a colander and let it drain, rinse and drain again, and add your other fresh ingredients and you're done!

If you want to have a side of refried beans on the table there, that's fine too.

And to drink? Well, you can go the soda route, but you might try an easy and refreshing agua fresca . (much better for you than the soda!)

Agua fresca

Agua fresca literally means fresh water. It's a fresh fruit drink. Put a third of a blenderful of fresh fruit chunks and fill the rest of the way with water. Puree completely. Pour into a pitcher and sugar to taste. If you fruit is really sweet, you don't need much sugar – maybe a third to a half a cup. However sweet you want, more or less, which I like. We make this with watermelon, or cantaloupe, or papaya or pineapple. Works best with juicy fruits. I wouldn't try it with fall fruits. It's really good made from guavas, but I don't know that you'll get that there. Try the watermelon or cantaloupe first.

Buen provecho ! (enjoy your meal!)

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