Carne Asada Brava with Chipotle Steak Sauce

Tender juicy steak marinated in a bit of oil, lime juice, garlic, and jalapeno then grilled outdoors.  Succulent, spicy, and full of flavor.  Gorgeous steaks like this call for a little something special.  This Chipotle Steak Sauce is a fun way to spice things up and it's really good.  It may look a lot like tomato sauce, but I can assure you it tastes nothing like it.  It's spicy (from the three chipotles) and garlicky, almost reminiscent of Sriracha in a way.  I look forward to pairing this sauce with several other things.

"Brava" Steak

Carne Asada Brava

recipe found online here

Serves 6

 For the marinade:

6 large garlic cloves, unpeeled

4 fresh serrano or 2 fresh jalapeno chiles, stemmed

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus more for the steaks

Salt

6 ribeye steaks about 1-inch thick (they'll weigh about 10 to 12 ounces each)

    The marinade:  In a small ungreased skillet, roast the unpeeled garlic and the chiles over medium heat, turning occasionally, until both are soft  and blotchy black in places - 5 to 10 minutes for the chiles, 10 to 15 minutes for the garlic.  Cool, then peel the garlic.  Place both garlic and chiles in a food processor along with the lime juice and oil.  Run the machine until the mixture is as smoothly pureed as possible. Season highly with salt, usually about 1 1/2 teaspoons.
  
    Marinate the steaks:  Smear the mixture over both sides of the steaks, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

  Grill the steaks:  Light a charcoal fire and let the coals burn until they are covered with gray ash; position the grill grate and let it heat for a couple of minutes. Spray or brush the steaks on both sides with a little oil.  Lay on the grill grates and let cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until the grates have nicely seared beautiful grill marks into the meat - don't attempt to move the steaks until you can see nice grill marks.  Flip the steaks and cook until as done as you like (typically about 2 to 3 minutes longer for medium rare).  I like to let the steaks rest for a few minutes (on a cool part of the grill, a grate suspended over the back of the grill or a very low oven) before serving to allow the meat to reabsorb all the juices.  Serve with chipotle steak sauce, salsa, or hot sauce of your liking.

Chipotle Steak Sauce

recipe found online here

Makes 1-1/2 cups

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo
    1/2  teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican oregano
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Salt, to taste after cooking*

*Do not add the salt until after cooking.  If you add the salt prior it may become too salty once it cooks down

In a food processor or blender, combine, the tomatoes, garlic, chiles, oregano and vinegar.  Process until smooth.  Pour into a small (2-quart) saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Simmer 15 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in water, if necessary, to give the sauce the consistency of steak sauce.  Taste and season highly with salt, usually 1 1/2 teaspoons.  Cool, pour into a bottle and refrigerate until needed.

Theme: Turn on the Grill!