(Photo by Carlos Sarmiento)
A few postings ago, I presented a taco dish with a roasted Pasilla Chile salsa. I quickly fell in love on the flavor of roasted salsas (and also how easy it was to make). I just had to make another similar dish...besides, who doesn't love tacos?
I also wanted an excuse to pop open another phenomenal wine from Selin Cellars, and a Petite Syrah was just the wine for a new piquant dish.
This time, I opted to try a new salsa, and used Ancho Chile as the base. Delicious!
Let‘s get cooking!
Menu:
Marinated grilled hanger steak tacos with roasted ancho chile salsa, cotija cheese, grilled pineapple and saffron-cilantro rice.
Wine:
2021 Selin Cellars Puccioni Ranch Petite Syrah, Dry Creek, (Sonoma County, California)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Salsa:
Ancho Chile (1 ounce package)
2 small red peppers seeded
2 small yellow peppers deeded
2 small orange peppers seeded
I garlic bulb
3 small tomatillos
Sea salt & cracked pepper
Extra Virgin olive oil
Steak:
1 .75 pounds of hanger steak
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
Olive oil
Oregano
Rice:
1 cup of jasmati rice
2 cup of Vegetabale broth
Saffron solution (1/2 teaspoon of saffron diluted in 2 tablespoons of water)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
Pinch of Salt
Pineapple:
2 cups of fresh pineapple, cut in 1 inch cubes.
Taco tortillas (either white or yellow corn soft tortillas)
Cotija cheese
Directions:
Salsa:
Wipe off any dusty crevasses on the Ancho chile, using a wet paper towel, then de-stem and de-seed them. Roast them in the oven at 400F for 1-2 minutes.
Add the roasted Ancho to a bowl and cover them with the hot tap water. Let them reconstitute for 20-30 minutes.
Pull the husks off the tomatillos and rinse them. Roast the tomatillos, garlic, and peppers in a 400F oven for 10-20 minutes.
Drain the reconstituted Ancho chiles and add the chile pieces to a blender along with the roasted tomatillos, peppers, and roasted garlic cloves (that have been squeezed out of garlic bulb), olive oil and some sea salt & cracked pepper.
Combine well, adding water to thin it out if necessary.
Transfer to a bowl and set aside until ready to serve (salsa can be stored in an air right container and refrigerated for upto 5 days).
Rice:
In a medium pot, bring vegetable broth to a boil. Add diluted saffron, butter, pinch of salt and stir.
Add rice, stir well. Cover pot with lid, reduce heat to to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove pot from heat, fluff rice well, add cilantro, mix and cover. Keep warm until serving.
Steak:
Season the hanger steaks on all sides with sea salt and pepper, then lightly rub extra Virgin olive oil all over steaks.
Set up your grill for direct grilling and preheat to high (450 degrees). Brush or scrape and oil the grill grate.
Arrange the hanger steaks on the diagonal on the grill grate. Grill until sizzling and browned on the outside and cook to taste, about 2 minutes for rare (120 degrees); 3 minutes per side for medium-rare (130 degrees).
Give each steak a quarter turn after 1 minute to lay on a crosshatch of grill marks, if desired. *Recommended: Use an instant-read thermometer inserted through the side of the steak to check for doneness.
Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and let rest for 2 minutes. Cut the hanger steak on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Place on a plate for taco preparation.
Pineapple & corn tortillas:
While grilling steak, quickly grill out pineapple cubes for approximately 1 minute on each side or until char marks are seen. Remove from grill and transfer them to medium-sized decorative bowl.
Lightly warm up corn tortillas on grill, ideally on upper rack of grill (if you have one) otherwise, warm directly on grill grates for 1 minute each side. Remove and keep warm in a towel inside a basket.
Corina cheese:
Place a generous amount of cotija cheese ina decorative bowl for individual serving on tacos.
Serve it up!
This meal is as colorful as it is flavorful. There are many ways you can arrange or present this dish's you can make your own station where all dishes are individually presented and folks can prepare their own taco, or you can plate this by arranging two tortillas on a plate, top each with steak pieces, grilled pineapple, and salsa, topped with cheese and a side serving of the rice.
Buen Provecho! Enjoy!
(Photo by Carlos Sarmiento)
(Photo by Carlos Sarmiento)
(Photo by Carlos Sarmiento)
(Photo by Carlos Sarmiento)
About the wine…
Selin Cellars' Petite Syrah is loved for its deep, rich color and flavorful profile, parented by Syrah and Peloursin grapes.
2021 Selin Cellars Puccioni Ranch Petite Syrah, Dry Creek, (Sonoma County, California)
(Photo by Carlos Sarmiento)
Tasting notes: Rich fruit and long tannin, this will last a long time and opens with a nuttyness that builds to the big fruit and lingers.
Grapes:
100% Petite Syrah
Alcohol
14.60%
Food pairing: Excellent with grilled meats, savory sauces and roasted vegetables.
Wine information:
&
Special thanks to winemaker/proprietor Peter Selin for the wonderful partnership and collaboration.
Thank you Peter. Excellent wine!
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Decorative wine drip collar by: https://dripstosips.com
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Carlos at work...
(Photo by Aida Limongi Abreu)