Cilantro/Cumin Skirt Steak

Cumin is quickly becoming my favorite spice - I used it in lentil and vegetable soup, and in mojo criollo. It has such a wonderful smell and unique taste. So when Susan Feniger used it on her winning dish on last week's episode of Top Chef Masters, I thought I should give it a try. Luckily since it was the winning dish, there's a demonstration video online of exactly how to make it.

She made a cilantro cumin marinade for skirt steak, then made tacos with black bean salsa, and guacamole. I made the steak the same way but didn't do tacos, and instead made a corn, black bean, and avocado salad to go on the side.

Marinade:
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 serrano chile
2 tsp. ground cumin
juice of 3 limes
1/2 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth, and spread over steak. Let marinate for a couple hours. This was enough marinade for one pound of steak. The recipe actually called for toasted cumin seeds, but I already had ground cumin and didn't want to buy another kind just for this recipe.




Salad:

2 vine tomatoes, diced
2 Tbl. diced red onion
1 jalapeno, very finely diced
1 cup corn
1 cup black beans
1 avocado, diced
juice of 1 lime
2 tsp. white wine vinegar
2 Tbl. olive oil
generous pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.



And that's it! Grill the steak for about 7 sides per minute. I had a pretty thick piece of skirt steak, so 7 minutes might be too much for a thinner piece. The marinade is really flavorful. I loved the steak on it's own, but maybe I'll try the taco version next time.