Carne Asada Nachos

Glenn mentioned his current favorite food was carne asada fries. I did some Googling, and decided to practice by making carne asada nachos since I had some leftover Mexican cheese sauce and leftover steak and chicken.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 4 - 4.25 ounces citrus juice (I used the juice of 1 tangerine, 1 large lime, and 1/2 of a large lemon)
• 1/4 cup (about 1.25 ounces) fresh cilantro, chopped with stems
• 1.3 ounces soy sauce
• 2 ounces water (optional, add if needed)
• 2 small or 1 large cloves garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/3 teaspoon finely chopped canned chipotle pepper (I used 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce)
• 1/3 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1.3 ounces olive oil
  

Crema Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 lime, juiced (I used 1/2 of the leftover lemon half from the marinade)
  

Cheese Sauce:

• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp butter
• 10 ounces Asadero Cheese or Quesadilla Cheese
  (I used  6 ounces crumbled queso fresco and 4 ounces shredded cheddar)
• 1 cup evaporated milk (I used 8 ounces of Greek yogurt and 4 ounces of milk)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ tsp salt
• 7 ounces chopped green chiles 
• ¼ cup cilantro chopped (I ran out of fresh cilantro, so used 1 teaspoon  ground cilantro)
  

Meat Layer:

• 1 pound flank steak (I used 16 ounces pre-cooked leftover beef and chicken, cut in thin strips)
• 1 bell pepper, sliced in thin 2" long strips
• 1 onion sliced in thin strips
• 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, chili powder, garlic, paprika, salt, and black pepper
• 2 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 plum tomato, diced
• 4 to 6 ounces of guacamole (I made up some guac using 1 avocado, some leftover lemon juice and garlic powder and salsa)
• tortilla chips or ~10 ounces frozen fries (cooked until crisp in oven)
  

 

Instructions:

1. Combine orange juice, lemon juice, and lime juice for marinade in a small food processor bowl.
2. Add cilantro, soy sauce, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, black pepper, chipotle pepper, and oregano; whirr to combine.
3. Whirr in the olive oil until well combined. 
4. Optionally remove 1/3 cup of the marinade for pouting on carne asada after cooking it.
   (Save some sauce on the side if you are using raw meat.)
   
   
5. With raw meat, put steak between two sheets of heavy plastic on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound steak with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of 1/4 inch. After pounding, poke steak all over with a fork. Cover both sides of steak in the marinade, place in the large bowl, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
   
6. -- Or -- if starting with cooked beef and chicken strips, and let the meats marinate for about 4 hours.
   
   
   
   
7. Mix together ingredients for crema sauce - let rest in refrigerator while meat marinates.
8. Make up cheese sauce. Melt butter on low heat. Whisk in flour. Whisk for 2 minutes.
9. Whisk in milk, and then add grated cheese.
10. Whisk on low heat until cheese sauce is melted and mostly smooth.
    (There was lumps with quest fresco - I probably will not use it again)
    
    
11. As needed, make up guacamole.
12. If making the fries version, bake the fries starting about for 20 minutes or so before you are ready to assemble the pieces.
    
    
13. Cook raw meat on very hot grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side.
    -- Or --  reheat pre-cooked under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes.
    
    
14. Preheat oven to 400 on convection.
15. Place a layer of tortilla chips in a 1/4 sheet pan. (or a layer of crisp baked fries)
    
16. Spread 4 ounces or so the cheese sauce over the chips/fries.
17. Spread 1/2 to 2/3 of the softened peppers and onions on the sauce.
18. Spread about 8 ounces of the meat strips on top.
19. Sprinkle with 2 ounces shredded cheddar.
20. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until cheese melts.
21. Sprinkle tomato on top.
22. Drop dollops of guacamole on top.
23. Paint tops of strips with the cream on top, and serve!
    
    

 

Carole's Notes:

We liked this!  We had more carne asada than 2 of us could eat, so we had leftovers for days.

The marinade is lightly adapted from https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/186691/lisas-favorite-carne-asada-marinade/ with some ideas from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9knyeE3YN4

The cheese sauce is adapted from https://www.swankyrecipes.com/outrageous-mexican-queso-dip.html