skirt steak, garlic yuca mash & cilantro vinaigrette
Just recently I was in Tulum (yes, again) celebrating my work husband’s wedding which was to die for beautiful! Whenever I’m traveling I always like to recreate, to the best of my ability, a dish or two or three lol when I get back.
My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE place in Tulum is Hartwood! I talk about it all the time. You have to make reservations way in advance and everything is cooked in an open kitchen wood fired grill. The ambiance, the food, the drinks…it’s all amazing!
This time, it was our first night in town and we ordered so much shit, it was crazy lol. We were all so excited. We ordered a whole lobster, whole red snapper, ceviche…all amazing! Anyway, we ordered this perfectly cooked medium rare, skirt steak with smashed yuca….ohh my god. The whole time we kept saying “this steak is seasoned downnnnn!” lol. I also LOVEEEE Yuca or Cassava. It’s a root vegetable very similar to a potato but slightly sweeter and is very native to the Caribbean. I love it as fries, mashed or boiled & drizzled with lots of garlic, s&p and olive oil.
So of course when I got home I had to make it again! Try it below and along with some of tips for a good steak!
A couple of things:
It all starts with your meat! Don’t skimp on the meat. If you can, go to a butcher to get your cut of skirt steak or whichever cut you want.
Your meat should be room temperature when you are about to cook it. You don’t want to add a cold piece of meat to a hot pan because it will “shock” the meat which results in a not tender steak.
Lots of salt & pepper. A good piece of meat loves salt. Steak loves salt! That’s what brings out all the damn flavor in the steak. Don’t be afraid to go heavy with the salt…the steak is literally like “yasssssss!”
LET YOUR STEAK F*CKING REST & Don’t touch your f*cking steak! I like a good medium/medium rare steak so my rule of thumb is give or take 3-4 minutes each side on medium heat with unsalted butter & some olive oil. I am not moving my steak all around the pan but letting it do its thing. Once I flip it over, I am constantly touching it to make sure it is not overcooking. Once removed from the pan, I let it rest so the juices reincorporate throughout the steal for 5 MINUTES! Resting is key!
OK…let’s get to the recipe!
Ingredients
1lb piece of skirt steak, room temp
salt & pepper
extra virgin olive oil & some unsalted butter
Smashed Garlic Yuca
1/2 lb frozen yuca
about 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
salt & pepper
Cilantro Vinaigrette
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of cilantro
1 lime, juiced
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeño
1-2 tablespoons white vinegar about
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
about a teaspoon of sugar
salt & pepper
Directions
The steak: Heavily salt & pepper your steak. In a cast iron pan, heat up extra virgin oil oil and unsalted butter on medium heat. Cook according to how you like your steak cooked and reference my tips above. Skirt steak is thin so just make sure to watch it so you are not overcooking it.
The yuca - Bring a pot of water to a boil and heavily salt it. Boil the frozen yuca for about 20-25 minutes until fork tender. Remove and add the butter, heavy cream and the minced garlic. Season with salt & pepper and mash all together. Be careful to to mash and “work” too much because the yuca can become “gummy” from the starch. Taste to adjust seasonings!
Cilantro Vinaigrette - Add everything to a blender and taste to adjust seasoning like salt & pepper. This sauce will keep in the fridge for about a week!
ENJOY!