Marinated Sierra Cut Steak for Quesadillas

Last Saturday, SP came home from Sunny Bridge with a hunk of Sierra Cut Steak. I had never heard of this cut - even as I was asking why the heck he bought this kind of beef, I was looking it up on my phone. He said he went to the section where he bought the flank (skirt) steak that we made a few weeks ago but what they had in that spot was sierra cut. It's similar to flank (from the flank) and skirt (from the plate) steak, but it's from the chuck/shoulder part of a cow. These three cuts need to marinate before grilling for best results (flavor & to tenderize the tougher cut of meat).

Sunday morning, SP whipped up a marinade: olive oil, Worcestershire, cumin, crushed red pepper, chili powder, and lime juice. The meat marinated from about 9:30 am until 6:30 pm. After we got home from Mother's Day dinner, he grilled the shrimp for the Greek Orzo & Grilled Shrimp Salad and this steak. It only took about 3-4 minutes per side. He got a nice cross hatch pattern:

We let it rest for 30-45 minutes. It doesn't need to rest that long, but we were cleaning up and doing other things in the kitchen and not planning on eating this until the next day. When he sliced it, it was still pretty pink and some juice ran out.

That was OK since the meat would be 're-heated' when we made the quesadillas.

Sunday night he also grilled 6 red peppers, let them sit for a while, then peeled them for lots of roasted red pepper:

While he was outside grilling, I sliced & sauteed mushrooms and onions:

The last thing we did was use the food processor to grate some colby-jack and cheddar cheeses. Everything went into plastic or glass containers and we were all set for a few quick dinners during the week. Heat the oven to 350. Put a tortilla on a cookie sheet. Place steak, red pepper, mushrooms, and cheese on the tortilla. Place another tortilla on top. Heat until warm and the cheese is melted.

All that prep work on Sunday made for a tasty and quick dinner. I didn't think the steak was too hot/spicy from the chili powder & crushed red pepper. Mostly I tasted the lime, cumin, and Worcestershire. SP added salsa to his. I added some sour cream. We'd definitely use this marinade on a steak like this again.

The marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 3 limes (just under 1/4 cup when measured)
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
light dash red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar

Inspired by/adapted from this recipe.