FLOWER POT KITCHEN: WOOD FIRED SEARED SKIRT STEAK STUFFED TACOS

18 Oct 2021

WOOD FIRED SEARED SKIRT STEAK STUFFED TACOS

CHILLI CUMIN & GARLIC MARINATED SKIRT STEAK

Hanger marinated skirt (Fraldinha) steak seared and stuffed in to tacos with all the usual suspect fixings! This cheap cut of steak is very often over looked but cooked over high heat really fast and served no more than rare, blue even better it's a super juicy succulent tasty cut of beef. To add even more flavour I've marinated the steak with a spice mix inspired from wood fired Cowboy cooking, Brasilian barbecue and Mexican cumin flavours.

Marinating time minimum 4 hrs-24hrs / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 2-4)

Marinade

5 cloves garlic

1 tsp toasted cumin seeds

60g red chillies

1 tbsp fresh oregano 1/2 tsp if using dried

3 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

60ml olive oil

The Steak

500g approx skirt steak

1 glug olive oil

1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt

(Brazilian amount 2 tbsp) !

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 lime

1 bunch fresh coriander torn

Fixings

Soft corn tacos

Hot chilli sauce

Seared pineapple

Fresh coriander

Red onion

Slaw

Fresh chillies

Guacamole

Place all the marinade ingredients in a blender and blitz to a smooth paste, reserve a couple of tbsp of the marinade, in a glass dish or food bag cover the steak with the remaining marinade place in the fridge to marinate infusing all the gorgeous flavour in to your steak.

Remove the steak from the fridge around half an hour before your ready to cook so that the steak is at room temperature, this ensures a juicy tender steak as the steak has relaxed. Fire up your wood fired oven or heat your stove top skillet very hot, if you can cook over or in a wood fired oven it really does add so much more flavour, roughly scrape off some of the marinade, now the Brazilian bit is to heavily sprinkle the steak with Himalayan salt and pepper this would be knocked off just before serving which is why if you've ever been to Fogo de chao now you know why you don't need salt! We're not knocking the salt of as I have lowered the amount cooked with.

Drizzle the olive oil over the steak, never add oil to the pan as this over heats the oil and it smokes, place the steaks in the hot hot skillet, or on the stone cooking floor of your wood fired oven, leave do not touch for one and a half minutes, turn the steaks over and cook for a further one minute, remove the steak from the skillet or wood oven immediately and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, bush the reserved marinade over the steaks and slice on the bias, pour over the resting juices a beautiful self made sauce, a squeeze of lime and finish off with a sprinkling of fresh coriander enjoy.

Stuff wrap and enjoy this lip smacking juicy flavoursome steak with your choice of fixings, I love a sweet sticky chilli sauce and seared pineapple with my tacos.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.