Skirt Steak with Romesco Sauce and Cherry Tomato Relish

Skirt steak, or just skirt, is cut from the plate area of cattle. It is similar to flank steak in that it is very highly grained and is similarly cooked, and sliced. It is the cut most often associated with fajitas. 

Coming from the diaphragm area this is a lean and hard working muscle and as such can be tough, particularly if it is not served correctly. A quick grill or a long braise, marinated or not, will do it for cooking. Cutting across its obvious grain (at 90 ° to it) will ensure very tender eating with a pronounced beefy flavour. 

Skirt is surprisingly hard to find here in Alberta, weird considering that we are the Canadian centre of all things beefy. My understanding is that it is mostly exported to Korea or sold to restaurants. I don’t think I have ever seen it in a grocery store, though I’m sure any good butcher shop could procure it for you. Flank steak, skirt’s kissin’ cousin is easily, but no longer cheaply, found and is a perfect substitute in a pinch.

A new co-worker of Steve’s  happens to have a connection that allowed us to replenish our skirt steak supply, which was down to zero, meaning it was time to bust out the barbecue and grill up some delicious beefy meat.

I had recently seen a recipe for skirt in a past edition of  Woman’s World magazine at my MIL’s and snapped a picture of it thinking that I would use flank steak and give it a go. Lucky for me, I got to make it with the real deal. The magazine version served this dish on top of toasted sourdough but since I normally avoid bread, and didn’t have my sourdough starter ready to go, I just skipped that part and served both the sauce and the tomatoes over the beef. With the steak itself so simply seasoned, the wonderful beef flavour shines in this dish. 

I served this with a side of simple asparagus sautéed in olive oil. It was delicious and worth sharing with friends, though we greedily ate it all by ourselves. 

This recipe takes a bit of prep, though all of it can be done ahead. It also makes a lot of both the romesco sauce and the marinated tomatoes so they can be used for more than one meal. Once these two bits are prepared the grilling of the meat will take you only about 5 minutes, depending on your desired rareness and the thickness of the meat. Flank steak will take a bit longer but skirt is very thin meaning that if you are grilling it it is super quick to cook.

A skirt is a very long piece of meat, like maybe 18 – 24″ long. I find that cutting the skirt into 6″ portions before cooking it makes it easier to deal with on the grill and to slice it once it is done. Because you will be slicing across the long end of each portion, cut them into sizes that your sharpest slicing knife will easily tackle. Steve took this wee video (he didn’t know it was on video or he would have made it longer) showing me cutting a length.

One whole skirt will serve 2-4 people depending on their appetites. They generally come in at about 1 lb each so make sure you purchase enough if you can find it. An averaged sized flank steak can be substituted in this recipe.

Skirt Steak with Romesco Sauce and Cherry Tomato Relish

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Author: Mia Staysko

Tender, beefy and full of flavour, this skirt steak is great for a weekend meal when you have a few extra minutes to prepare the condiments. Cheap to buy but impressive enough for guests.

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Ingredients

Romesco Sauce

• 3 medium red bell peppers whole
• 1 Anaheim chili whole
• 3 cloves garlic unpeeled
• 1 unpeeled medium onion cut in half
• 1/4 Cup walnuts
• 1/4 Cup pine nuts
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Tomato relish

• 2 pints whole cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1 1/2 large shallot
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp erythritol/monkfruit blend sweetener or equivalent granulated
• 3 Tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
• 3 Tbsp fresh tarragon finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp capers chopped roughly
• 1/4 Cup olive oil
• juice from 1/4 lemon

Skirt Steak

• 1 1 lb skirt steak cut into 6" lengths
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Romesco Sauce

1. Preheat oven or barbecue to 450°. Place peppers, garlic and onion on a baking sheet or into a barbecue vegetable basket. Place into oven or over barbecue until peppers are charred. Watch the garlic, if it begins to burn remove it and set aside. Burned garlic is not tasty.

   Meanwhile gently toast walnuts and pine nuts in a small saucepan over medium heat until brown but not burned, remove from heat.

   When peppers are entirely blackened remove them from heat and let cool until you are able to handle them. Peel the charred skins off, remove stem and seeds. Peel the onions and garlic. Transfer all to a blender, add toasted nuts and blend, slowly drizzling olive oil and vinegar into blender until smooth. Season with salt, and more vinegar if desired.

   Set aside until ready to use, or refrigerate. You can make this several days ahead, just bring to room temperature before using over your steak.

Cherry Tomato Relish

1. Finely dice the shallot into a medium sized bowl. Add salt and sweetener and let sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

   Halve your cherry tomatoes and add to shallots.

   Add parsley, tarragon, chopped capers, olive oil and lemon juice. Stir to mix and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. You may refrigerate if making ahead more than a few hours.

Skirt Steak

1. Season your lengths of skirt steak generously with salt and pepper. Grill over high heat for 2-3 minutes each side or until done to your preference (these are very thin so watch them, they won't take long!). Remove from grill, let sit for a few minutes and then slice each length ACROSS the grain (this is important for tenderness!)

   Place a serving of sliced beef on each plate, add a dollop of romesco and a spoonful of tomato relish to each serving.