In all honesty, I struggled to decide what I wanted to make for this 30 minutes or less post. I ran through a lot of options, but none jumped out at me. Then, all of a sudden, like a tonne of bricks it hit me, steak tacos! Of course!
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These aren't your everyday steak tacos either ladies and gentlemen. These are composed of a seared cap of sirloin steak sliced thin, with avocado, sour cream, and chimichurri sauce. Served with ancho and lime corn on the cob. I can't wait to share these with you. So, let's get to it.
7:45 pm - Turn It On
Because it took me so long to decide what I wanted to cook for this post I ended up starting fairly late, but that's okay. I don't mind eating late.
At 7:45 I got started by filling up a pot with hot water for my corn. I put 1 tablespoon of sugar in the water, put the pot on high and covered it with a lid. I also turned the oven on to 350 degrees F.
This obviously didn't take much time so within the same minute I started husking my corn. I only used two ears of corn because it was just my wife and me eating, you may want more. If you do use more corn, your husking time will be longer but your cooking time should be the same.
After the corn was husked I broke it in half with my hands like the beast that I am and set it aside. I didn't put it directly in the water for two reasons. First of all, it only takes about 10 minutes to cook and we still have about 28 minutes before everything else is ready, and because it is better to let the water come to a boil before adding the corn.
Oh, and for anyone wondering, I added sugar to the corn water rather than salt for two reasons. Salt will actually toughen the corn, and sugar enhances the natural sweetness of the corn. Never use salted water to cook corn. Use salt once it is cooked, but never to cook it.
7:48 pm - Chimichurri
At 7:48 with the corn out of the way it was time to get rolling on the chimichurri. Now, if you don't know what chimichurri is you can check out a whole post I wrote about it a few weeks ago right here.
For the chimichurri, we are making today we start with about 1 cup loosely packed parsley, and 1 cup loosely packed cilantro, all chopped together nice and fine.
Don't get too fancy here with pulling all the leaves off of the stems. Just grab a handful of the herb, break it off the bunch and chop it up. The stems will chop up just as fine as the leaves do.
Adding the Heat
With the herbs finely chopped it is time to get down to business with a jalapeno. I used 1 small jalapeno for this, seeds and all. Remember that not all jalapenos are created equal. Cut into your jalapeno, and give it a sniff. If it stings the nostrils and has a slightly metallic smell you may want to remove some or all of the seeds because that is going to be a hot jalapeno.
After the jalapeno, I minced 1 shallot and a couple of cherry tomatoes.
All that was left for the chimichurri was to add in some olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, and a touch of cumin. I mixed it all together, gave it a taste, adjusted the seasoning as needed, and set it aside. Just like that, chimichurri done.
8:03 pm - Corn in the Pot
All told it took me about 6 minutes to put the chimichurri together. By now, my corn water was boiling, so I put the corn in to cook. I also turned a large skillet onto medium-high heat for my steak.
With the corn in the pot and the pan on for the steak, it was also time to wrap up my tortillas and put them in the oven. Now, I want to talk about the tortillas for a second. Generally, I like to make my own tortillas but I didn't think I would have enough time to make them along with everything else in the 30-minute window. So instead of making them, I bought them from the superstore. They weren't very good. So, if you are going to buy soft corn tortillas from the grocery store, buy the ones from Sobeys. They are much better. Otherwise, use whatever tortillas you prefer.
I took the tortillas out of their package, wrapped them in foil and put them in the now hot 350 degrees F oven.
8:05 pm - Steak
The next step in this taco adventure was to season the steak. I did this simply with salt, pepper, and a light sprinkle of cumin. That's it. Then I put it in the pan. I didn't add any oil to the pan because I was using cast iron, but you may want to add 1-2 teaspoon of oil to your pan. If you want more detail on how to get a great sear, check out my post on preheating your pan.
8:07 pm - Slice Avocado
Okay, the steak is in the pan, everything is working or done, it's time to get to work on an avocado. Avocado can be very dangerous. People have a tendency to hold the fruit while cutting into it and removing the pit. This is dumb! So many things can go wrong (check out this article from CBS) and so many people end up hurting themselves.
Leave the avocado on the cutting board. Carefully cut around it. Twist to open. The half of the avocado that still has the pit in it gets placed back on the cutting board. Place the butt of your knife blade against the pit and give it a little pump of pressure with your hand on the top of your knife. Hold the avocado in place and twist the pit out. Use a towel to remove the pit from the knife blade. Peel the avocado, and then slice.
8:10 pm - Flip the Steak
The avocado is safely out of the way. Now, it is time to flip the steak. I think this is pretty self-explanatory. This is also a good time to cut up a lime.
8:12 pm - Corn
By 8:12 the corn was done. I drained it, then added 2 tablespoon of butter to the pot along with the juice of 1 lime and 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder. I tossed this all together and just like that the corn was done.
The steak was done cooking at this point as well. So, once I was done with the corn I removed the steak from the pan. Always let your steak rest before slicing -- it makes a huge difference. If you want to know more about why, have a look at my guide to cooking meat.
8:13 pm - Assembly
At 8:13 I removed the tortillas from the oven and started to assemble my tacos. First went the avocado, then a bit of sour cream. At this point, I sliced the steak nice and thin across the grain, put that on the tortillas. I finished the tacos with the chimichurri and the ancho and lime corn on the side.
Final Thoughts
These steak tacos are one of my favourite quick meals, and the chimichurri is what really puts them over the top. Next time I'll start the steak a little earlier so it has more time to rest, and I'll either make my own tortillas or grab better ones from Sobeys. Small tweaks aside, this is a 30-minute dinner I come back to again and again.
Recipe
Ingredients
Ancho Lime Corn on the Cob
- 2 ears Corn on the cob, husked and broken in half
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 teaspoon Ancho chili powder
- 1 Lime Juiced
- 1-2 tablespoon Sugar
Chimichurri
- 1 cup loosely packed parsley
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro
- 1 sm Jalapeno
- 4 ea Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 ea Shallot or ½ a small onion
- 2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar + more to taste
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Steak
- 2 6oz Cap off Sirloin steaks
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- Salt and Pepper
Tacos
- 1 avocado
- 1 pkg Soft Corn Tortillas
- ¼ cup Sour Cream
Instructions
Ancho Lime Corn
- Bring a pot of water to a boil with the sugar.
- Put the corn in the water and boil for 10 minutes.
- Drain the water and add the butter, ancho powder, lime juice, and salt and pepper into the pot and toss the corn to coat.
Chimichurri
- Chop the herbs and place them in a bowl.
- Mince the jalapeno, shallot, and tomato, and add to the herbs.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Steak
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Season the steak with cumin, salt and pepper.
- Put the steak in the pan (you may need a touch of oil) cook for four minutes.
- Flip the steak and cook for 3-4 more minutes.
- Remove the steak from the pan and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
Tacos
- Remove the tortillas from their package, wrap in foil and heat in a 350°F oven for ten minutes.
- Once the tortillas are warm remove them from the oven and top with avocado, sour cream, sliced steak, and chimichurri.
- Serve the tacos with the ancho and lime corn.
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