Flap Steak and Tamales
 

Flap meat is arguably the ideal choice of cut for carne asada. And oh, what a precious treat it is for me!-- literally mouthwatering deeliciousness bite after bite. First I would like to introduce a most savory rub, one of which I am quite fond and highly recommend from Chef Merito:

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I should point out at this point that this post is actually a combination of three meals that I prepared this week, to better illustrate with the prons what I produced and hoped to produce.

I find it is a good thing to let the meat marinate after applying the rub. For that extra "Je ne sais quoi" I like to include the juice of an orange and minced garlic. (Lucky me has homegrown citrus trees in my backyard). Here is what that marinade looks like:

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Okay, I prefer to cook my carne asada a bit more slowly, over indirect heat. I toss on a chunk o' lump mesquite over the hardwood charcoals and let all the flavors settle in.

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Here's how today's process went from start to finish:

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Here is how a plated pic came out on one I did a few days ago-- not quite revealing enough.

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And here is tonight's plated pic, served topped with plenty of salsa, with spinach and Hass avocado on the side.

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Actually, I wanted to present a more traditional culinary lineup for this carne asada by including some homemade Mexican rice and refried black beans. Regrettably I didn't quite get that far, so I resort to my tamale dinner. Here is how that went:

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Asada looks yummee. We're the tamales homemade or storebought???

Why thank you, Hoss! You are most perceptive... I confess that this time the tamales were store bought. :grin:

They still look TASTEE!! :wink:

That all looks good. And tamales from the store are just fine

I'd hit that! The pron looks as good as I remember it!

Bob

Nice. I smoked some flap meat with some ribs last weekend. I vacuum sealed the smoked flap meat to used to cook into beans and soups.

It is great to see people use all the meat.

CD

Thanks Bob! In honor of you and times past, I need to real soon do a rack of them big ol' T-Rex Dino bones and break out the yellow jackets! :grin:

Splendid idea indeed, Caseydog. I find that carne asada, when cut up into shreds also make for out-of-this-world tacos!--just hit the meat up hard with the habanero sauce. Works for hard or soft tacos.

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Inspiring post. Thanks.

Love it!

That looks really good! :hungry:

Thats one of the pieces, that taste the most to me.
nice

That is tremendous. Twice in one week I am exposed to this dish Carne Asada, I really need to get a grip on this and make it. Thanks for sharing, and your tacos are picture book...:eusa_clap

Why thank you kindly, Bluesman! And I want to tell you mighty, mighty impressive and fabulous creation on the "I'm stuffed" throwdown. I sure wanted some of that! :grin:

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