Introduction: The Ultimate Steak Quesadilla
Ingredients
You will begin by making the jalapeno hot sauce and the steak.
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Marinated Skirt Steak and Peppers
- 1 Pound of Skirt Steak
- 1 Poblano Pepper
- 1 Onion
- 2 Jalapeno Peppers
- 1 Anaheim Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Roughly Chopped Cilantro
- 1 Lime
- 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin
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Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 4 tsp Minced pickled jalapenos - the jalapenos in a jar
- 4 tsp jalapeno juice, from pickled jalapenos
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 10 Flour Tortillas
- 1 Lb Mexican Grated Cheese Blend
You will begin by making the jalapeno hot sauce and the steak.
Step 1: Jalapeno Hot Sauce
Cut the jalapenos very finely until they almost become a puree. Use a food processor if necessary. Measure out 4 teaspoons of these minced jalapenos. It will take quite a few tablespoons of pickled jalapenos to get 4 teaspoons of the pureed jalapenos. Combine all of the ingredients together. If you have a squeeze bottle, putting the sauce into a squeeze bottle makes application very easy. If the jalapenos are cut too roughly to come out of the squeeze bottle, you can cut the top of the bottle. Refrigerate for 6 hours minimum before use. You can use it right away but it won’t be as good.
Step 2: Marinated Skirt Steak and Peppers
Get a large plastic container or ziptop bag and put the steak in the container. Dice the onions and peppers and put them in the container with the steak. Pour over the oil and soy sauce. Add the chopped cilantro. Slice the lime into slices and squeeze the lime juice in the container dropping the lime slices into the container. Stir the mixture together vigorously and allow it to marinate anywhere from 1 hour to a couple of days. The meat may start to brown after a couple days but this is probably the lime juice cooking the meat and not the meat spoiling. If the meat smells bad then it has gone bad. Otherwise the meat will be fine to eat.
Step 3: Cooking the Meat and Vegetables
To cook the meat, get a big heavy pan (cast iron is best) and place it on medium high. You want the pan to get hot so you can form a good sear in the steak. Take the meat out of the marinade removing all of the peppers onions and cilantro from the meat. These will be cooked in a separate pan over medium. Be sure to throw away the lime slices before cooking the vegetables. The high heat to sear the steak would burn these vegetables. Skirt steak is usually very thin so a good sear on each side will leave a nice medium rare through the steak. It you are new to cooking with meat or unsure when it is done, I recommend investing in a kitchen thermometer. They are very easy to use and result in perfectly cooked meat every time. After the meat has cooked allow it to rest. Then slice the meat along a bias.
Step 4: Cooking the Quesadillas
Chop the skirt steak into small pieces. On one tortilla place a layer of cheese topped with meat, vegetables, and some jalapeno hot sauce. Top with another layer of cheese and another tortilla. Cook in pan over medium heat until browned on both sides.