I was given a pack of frozen skirt steak. I googled it. Not sure if it's inside or outside. This isn't something I've ever bought or tried.

Any ideas? Any favorite recipes with this particular cut of meat? Eat as steak or cut it up and use in a recipe?

Thanks for any help.

Season it, sear/grill it quickly on both sides to medium rare and slice it thinly against the grain.

It's great in Fajitas, cheese steaks or just served as is. Slicing it thinly against the grain is the key.

__________________
"I also cook."

Fajitas sound good...Thanks.

It as a versatile cut for this household. Ruthie uses several different marinades depending upon whether its intended destination is a tortilla or a wok.

Good stuff.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

fajitas or even beef with mushrooms and onion tips

Carne asada!

__________________
50 Years of Wish You Were Here

That's standard fair for beef fajitas in Texas.

Back in the day, never heard of them on either side of the border.
Then made my last retreat to the Lone Star, Bam!
They were everywhere. Learned how to make them watching some folks at a Bandera Fair.
Texas Cuisines and Cultures: Fajitas. A Brief History... and Mama Ninfa's Original Recipe to Make Beef Fajitas

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

I think that it is first cousins to flank steak.

73,
Rick

In my youth I always knew when we were having skirt/flank/round steak when I heard the Anvil Chorus emanating from mom's kitchen.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

The Anvil Chorus sounds like a track off the Roadrunner soundtrack.

__________________
The best I can with what I got

Mom used to make 'Gravy Meat' by pounding round steak with the tenderizer and searing it in a electric skillet. Pour some boiling water into the skillet and loosen up all the lovely crispy bit, then add cream of mushroom soup. Toss all the seared cutlets back in and cook on low for a couple hours. Over bread or rice it was just heaven.

Still have that old tenderizer. It's at least as old as me.

Attached Images

Tenderizer.jpg (131.2 KB, 43 views)

Thanks Pilgrim. Fajitas it is. I've never had them with the juices like this recipe so I'm going to try it. Maybe the acid breaks down the beef?

Thanks everybody.

Interesting how different people cook. My mother taught me to make brown gravy like this...
Fry breaded chicken or steak.
Drain most but not all of the grease.
Add flour and brown in the grease on low heat.
At water, salt and black pepper to taste. Simmer to thicken, stirring frequently.
Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or homemade biscuits.

Delicious!!

Attached Images

image000000(11).jpg (91.1 KB, 267 views)

I normally do not eat skirt steak but I have had one here and there on salads and Mexican foods like Fajita's. Preparing and cooking them is the key! IMHO, you have to serve it rare to medium-rare otherwise it is fairly tough. If cooked right and prepared correctly it can be descent.

I don't think I've ever eaten it unless a restaurant served it as 'mystery meat' in a dish. I've never bought flank steak either as I knew it had to be prepared right. This steak was free, so I'm going to give it a go.

That is called making a roux, pronounced rue. One of the most basic steps in cooking, almost as basic as boiling water. Girls should have learned this from their mothers before they were 10 or 12 years old!

You make white or milk gravy the same way except you start with butter and flour instead of drippings, butter and flour in aprox. equal proportions. The roux is used to thicken milk. That's how you make gravy for biscuits and gravy. Thickness is controlled by how much milk is added to the roux.

Your Mother did a good job if she taught you to cook.

__________________
Gunsmithing since 1961

Mom used to make it years ago. She beat the heck out of it first. Cooked it slow, it was OK but Dad and I finally got her to stop.

My mom used to make the same dish, only she called it "Swiss steak" even though that ain't what it is. Boy was I confused the first time I looked up a recipe for it. Tomatoes? What the hell?

Was pretty good with venison also.

__________________
The best I can with what I got

Skirt steak is often used to make cecina, thinly sliced dried and salted beef. My favorite way to eat it is over chilaquiles, (a tortilla casserole)=, with a couple of fried eggs.

__________________
Not in jail.

Does this cut go by different names in different parts of the country? The name skirt steak has recently become popular but this piece of meat has always been on cattle.

__________________
Fools despise wisdom.

The first time I ever saw Skirt Steak in a Grocery was HEB in San Antonio.
When those Bandera Good Ole Boys learned me how to Fajita, I say -
But, but, where can I get some so I can make it?
I was amazed when they replied, HEB!
Every steer has a few pounds, but it’s often just tossed into the hamburger grind pile.
Yes, Skirts and other tougher, grainy cuts are best when marinated.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

I enjoyed it very much as a teen, back in the day.

Pounded, s/p, flowered and fryed in a cast iron pan on top of the stove,
with or w/o gravy, was always a meal that I looked forward to.

Ever try, Beef toungue?

Silly me...I thought this was about an entirely different subject.

If you to try some pseudo easy to make Fatija -
You know where to get it!

Attached Images

IMG_2468.jpg (153.4 KB, 24 views)

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

I think I saw this 'Gravy Meat' in the Mess Hall, but by another name.
You are right though, maybe not heaven but I never turned it down.

Inside or outside skirt will need to be handled differently for best results.

The inside skirt steak is 3-4 inches wide and 1/2-1 inch thick and more tender than the outside skirt.

The outside skirt is wider, thinner, and chewier being 5-7 inches wide and 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

My favorite recipe is for lomo saltado using the inside skirt cut thinly against the grain on a bias. A good go-to for beef stir fries too.

Ever try, Beef toungue?

You bet! As a borrn and bred Texican I am a big fan of lengua. Tacos de lingua is mighty fine eating.

I was born as white as a human can be as a red-haired, freckled gringo, but as I frequently tell my friends (as I order menudo) "I'm only white on the outside"

Exactly. I use Mojo Corillo as a base for marinade. Plus some pineapple juice. Get some of those little cans.

Grill some peppers and onions. Right when they are done hit the veggies with a healthy shot of soy sauce and let it caramelize.

Back when I was old enough to watch but too young to help my father in business, I watched my mother cook. Only 2 sometimes 3 channels on the TV back then.

I know we all have different tastes, but I'll take my brown gravy from pan drippings any day of the week over milk gravy. The amount of fat and black pepper are the key. Store bought brown gravy not so much.

The other gravy neither of us mentioned is red eye gravy made from fried ham drippings. It's good on grits.

I'm getting hungry...

All the milk gravies concocted in this house begin with the drippings and scrapings of fried chicken, pork chops or sausage.

Biscuits or mashed taters are the preferred payload delivery systems.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Fajitas, once marinated (at least overnight), are best grilled over a hot mesquite wood fire with onion, and your peppers of choice. Most restaurants use bell peppers, but anything you like will do. Medium to medium well is most tender. Undercooked is tough. Overcooked is tougher. Many restaurants cook them with gas or electric heat rendering a much less flavorful fajita. The mesquite smoke is as integral to the flavor as is the marinade.

__________________
Or something like that . . .

Both my parents were born down in The Valley, maybe a mile or two from the border. When I was a kid we went there every holiday and often during the summer as well. I was introduced to Tex-Mex quite early and I never saw a flour tortilla until I was 17 or 18. We only had corn tortillas at home.

My mom made boiled tongue. Fortunately for me there is a deli not far from me that I get some on occasion. I like it on crusty bread with horseradish mayo.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

My Canadian neighbor at our old lake place used to get the largest skirt/flank steak the local butcher had, pound the devil out of it, and then take pickling spices and liberally sprinkle them over the flattened piece of meat. She would then roll it up tight like you would if making cimmaron rolls and stick tooth picks through it every inch. Then she lay them "rolls" out on a greased pan and put them under the broiler until they all sizzled...it was mighty tasty and a good accompaniment to cold Molson Canadian.

The Basque, make a soup with a dark gravy that I always order if they have made it, that week.
The meat is small cubes of beef toungue.

I will also add that we used the inside strip of skirt steak for our meals.
Sometimes it was flavored after pounding, laid flat , then rolled up into a ball, with a pointed wooden stick inserted in them and placed in the oven, to cook.
To eat the stick was removed and the meat unrolled, then cut into small bites.
As a child I did not have a knife that was big enough , to just cut the meat from the stick, but that might haved also worked ?

Do not over cook flank steak,

Pound it with a tender hammer even if marinating it.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

I’d suggest looking up recipes for German Rouladen.
Traditionally recipes use top round or flank steak. But, skirt steak should be fine.

You people are making me Hungry!
I agree with the greasy gravy
The hammer works great as a tender riser
Soak it in Italian dressing overnight works great
Tongue I ate too much growing up, lost my taste
Watched my Grandfather collect blood from a hog and then made blood sausage, never did I try it. I love head sausage.

My wife makes a marinade of oil,soy sauce,mucho garlic,green onion, and some brown sugar. Might be some other stuff. This is made warm enough to melt the brown sugar and then marinade over night in a gallon bag. Then put on a grill, make sure to let excess drain off steak first. Cooks up, little dark on the edge, cut across grain and served with rice, kimchi, whatever you like. great teriyaki like flavor. Got to have some now...

That marinade is close to what I use for sirloin steak and pork tenderloin. It's very good.

Since I know skirt steak is on the tougher side, I think I'm going to make fajitas with the citrus marinade to break it down. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Most beef fajitas use lime juice in the recipe. It is also more better if you grill the meat,

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind