Carne Asada

Carne asada is thinly sliced, grilled beef. Although almost any cut of beef can be butterflied into thin sheets for carne asada, typically it's made from flank steak or skirt steak. I like mine rolled up in a flour tortilla with fresh guacamole and lettuce.
I ate the BEST carne asada ever when we visited El Centro, California. We went to a tiny hole in the wall place run by a sweet mexican lady. It was a one room mom and pop shop. She had a meat case in the middle of the room that held all kinds of meat. We bought the carne asada and took it on a picnic when we toured the old prison near Yuma, AZ. I can still smell it now......ahhh, aren't memories yummy!

Carne Asada
1/2 pound flank or skirt steak
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced OR 1 tsp chili flakes
1/4 tsp ground cumin.
1 small handful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced OR 3 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
pinch sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
pinch salt
3 peppercorns
If necessary, butterfly the meat and pound lightly to tenderize. Place the flank steak in a large zip top bag. Combine marinade ingredients and pour the marinade over the steak. Zip the top securely and squish the bag around to make sure each piece is well coated. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours..overnight is better.
Preheat your grill over medium-high flame (you can also use a cast iron grill pan on high heat for stove-top cooking). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Remove the steak from the marinade. If you're cooking indoors, you may want to brush off excess marinade as the bits may burn and smoke on the hot pan. Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.
(Optional) Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn). Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds each on high. Serves 4-6