Grilled-Chicken Tacos and Chile-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos

Food & Wine (May 2010)

In its latest issue, Food & Wine declares tacos to be the current "it" item on hip menus. "First it was burgers," the mag says. "Then pizza. Now, American chefs are obsessed with tacos."

Count us in! We love tacos, and their seemingly limitless reinventions and twists make them an endlessly fun food. F&W highlights several tacos from different restaurants and food trucks around the country (forgive us, but we weren't brave enough to try our hands at the haute white-trash L.A. Gas Station Tacos, based on Los Angeles' Kogi BBQ truck, which feature bean dip, ham, pork rinds, American cheese, beef jerky and an apple!)

Instead, we opted for a couple of the feature's more traditional tacos, the Grilled-Chicken Tacos from NYC's Dos Toros Taqueria, and the Chile-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos from Calexico in Brooklyn.

We had a great time preparing these, and they were a fun dinner to serve when we had a couple friends over recently.

Unfortunately, the results weren't as great as we'd hoped.

Mmmm....carne asada-y!

For both of these tacos, the action is all about the marinade. With the Grilled-Chicken Tacos, it's a truly inventive marinade we'd never heard of before:  Blend tomatoes, lime and water. That's it!  Soak the chicken in that for at least six hours. Crazy!

The beef for the Steak Tacos gets a more traditional spice rub that includes paprika, ancho powder, garlic powder, sugar, and cumin, among other thing, and then marinates for a few hours. 

When you're ready to start cooking, just remove the meats from the marinade and grill for about 15 minutes. Then you're ready to assemble the tacos!

We threw together a Pico de Gallo (just diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro and lime juice) and a quick Avocado Salsa, as the recipe suggests. Along with those, we served toppings of shredded cabbage, Monterey Jack and more chopped cilantro. 

All in all, it's a lot of chopping, and -- while the actual prep for dinner isn't that hard or time-consuming -- the advance marinating means this recipe is a bit of an all-afternoon affair.

We'd be fine with that, except there just wasn't much to the tacos once they were done.  They seemed utterly...not special.  As intriguing as the tomato marinade for the chicken was, we couldn't discern any added flavor from it, and the chicken wasn't exceptionally juicy or anything.  The steak rub was fine, but the steak tacos just weren't any great shakes.

What's Spanish for "meh"?

Maybe we should have made those trashy gas-station tacos after all...

Grilled-Chicken Tacos
Food & Wine (May 2010)
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(This photo: Food & Wine)

    •    TOTAL TIME: 30 MIN Plus 6 hr marinating
    •    SERVINGS: Makes 12 tacos

Ingredients

-- 3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
-- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
-- 1 cup water
-- 1 teaspoon salt
-- 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
-- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
-- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
-- 12 corn tortillas, warmed
-- Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, jarred salsa verde and chopped avocados, onions, tomatoes and cilantro, for serving

Directions

    1.    In a blender, puree the tomatoes with the lime juice, water and salt. Transfer the puree to a large resealable plastic bag and add the chicken thighs. Seal the bag, pressing out the air. Refrigerate the chicken for 6 hours or overnight.

    2.    Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and pat them dry. Brush with the oil and sprinkle with the paprika and parsley. Grill over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until the chicken is lightly charred and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a work surface and let stand for 5 minutes. Cut the chicken thighs into strips and serve with the warmed tortillas, cheese, salsa verde, avocados, onions, tomatoes and cilantro.

Make Ahead

    1.    The grilled chicken can be refrigerated overnight.

Chile-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos
Food & Wine (May 2010)
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(This photo: Food & Wine)

    •    TOTAL TIME: 35 MIN Plus 2 hr marinating
    •    SERVINGS: Makes 12 tacos

Ingredients

-- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
-- 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
-- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
-- 1 teaspoon onion powder
-- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
-- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
-- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
-- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
-- 1 teaspoon salt
-- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
-- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
-- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
-- 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 5-inch strips
-- 12 corn tortillas, warmed
-- Pico de Gallo, Avocado Salsa and shredded cabbage, for serving

Directions

    1.    In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the paprika, ancho powder, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, chipotle, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Add the lime juice and oil and shake the bag to blend. Add the steak and seal the bag. Let the steak stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

    2.    Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Grill the steak over moderately high heat, turning twice, until lightly charred on the outside and medium-rare within, about 10 minutes. Transfer the steak to a work surface and let rest for 10 minutes. Thinly slice the steak and serve with tortillas, Pico de Gallo, Avocado Salsa and cabbage.

Comments

[Jill]

I will be making the skirt steak tacos this weekend, they look amazing!

[DessertForTwo]

I just found your site and I love it! I love that you try out the recipes I want to try from the magazines and give an honest review! Thanks for sharing! Keep it up!

[Andrw]

Try the fish tacos from the recent issue of Everyday Food. They were simple and tasty and quick to prepare. Just chop up some tilapia filets before broiling them and ta-da! They're the perfect size to fit inside corn tortillas.

[sarah @ syrupandhoney]

I'm so "in" and I didn't know it; I made tacos last night (spicy black beans with a radish and kohlrabi slaw). I was actually kinda proud of myself because it turned out really flavorful and delicious.

Okay skirt steak...I'm cooking some tonight for the first time and I'm a bit intimidated by meat. Any pointers?

[Amy C]

I think for the chicken tacos, I would have used for the marinade tomatillos, jalapenos, some beer and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. I'll bet you'd get the kick you were looking for with that - it's a rick bayless marinade, if I remember correctly.

[Renee]

Have you tried the chorizo and potato tacos from that issue yet? Those were high on my list to make.

[Cecelia Thompson]

Funny. I made the tacos from Food and Wine this weekend too! I made the skirt steak and the fish tacos. While the skirt steak was good - I agree it wasnt over the top. The fish tacos were amazing though! I advise you try them. I'll post them on my blog in a couple weeks.

[Veggie Belly]

Thanks for posting this, I made a vegetarian version and it turned out great! Love your blog!