Exhausted. That describes me perfectly right now. What a flat out crazy week that I had (and still having)… It’s all good though. So, I did something that I have never done before this week! I catered a graduation party. I seriously catered a party for 100 people! Holy cow! My good friend and I were talking and she was stressed about getting everything done for the party and of course I said “how can I help”? I ended up making all the food, that’s how I helped! Wow! What an undertaking. We decided on a Mexican themed party because we could do a taco bar with all the fixin’s. This would be fun, I could make some pulled pork and brisket as the anchor and make some salsa and guacamole. Easy right? Who knew that I would end up being like 30 hours of cooking and chopping! But like I said, it’s all good. I got on this weird “roll” and everything started coming together just as planned. I smoked 19 pounds of pork shoulder, braised 25 pounds of brisket, made a ceviche, pineapple salsa, regular salsa, chipotle ranch dip for the vege platters, pickled onions and jalapenos, made the guacamole and ten pounds of tequila lime pasta salad! Also, I helped with the set up, shopping and figuring out all the serving platters and everything else that goes along with planning a big party all while still working my regular job selling houses and writing contracts (of course I am knee deep in selling season to boot)! So you can see why I am exhausted! I can say though, “I did it”! I successfully catered a party for 100 and everyone raved about the food! I feel really good about this and eh’ hem.. can’t wait to do it again!
After this crazy busy week, I realized that I had “no” food to eat in the refrigerator. I seriously had some chopped garlic, tomatoes, jalapenos and milk. Knowing that I was going to be with clients all weekend, I needed to make something easy, that would take almost no effort and that I could have to eat all weekend long. So I decided to make a Chipotle Tequila Marinated Steak. I love flank steaks because they need a good marinade, time to sit in the refrigerator, easy to grill up and little to no mess in the kitchen! This marinade is fantastic for steak. It has a slight kick from the chipotle peppers and of course the tequila and lime juice. Sometimes you just need a big steak and the doctor ordered it this week for me! Give it a try, you may love it as much as me!
Now off to meet clients and I foresee a big Sunday afternoon nap coming up for me! Enjoy your week y’all!
- 2-3 pounds flank steak (or any other steak that you like)
- 1 tbs garlic, minced
- 2-3 chipotle peppers, minced
- 2 tbs sauce from chipotle pepper jar
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1/4 cup tequila
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbs honey
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- In a large zip lock bag add the garlic, peppers, sauce from peppers, lime juice, tequila, apple juice, olive oil, honey, cumin, salt and pepper. Seal bag and shake well. Add the steak. Refrigerate over night up to 24 hours.
- Turn your grill to high heat. (I like the sear that a high heat gives). Take the marinated steak from the bag and place on the grill. Cook until desired temperature. For medium rare, I cooked mine for approximately 8 minutes per side. Flank steaks shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes on the grill.
- Remove steak from grill and let rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing thin.
- With a flank steak you will want to slice it against the grain of the meat. You will see the striations in the meat. Slice it thin against them.
One of my favorite foods to make on my Traeger! It takes a long time to make but perfect every time!
A massive quantity of guacamole. You can never have too much!
One of my all time favorite recipes! Tequila Lime Pasta Salad. Perfect party food!
Cause you gotta have a vege tray or two at a party! This one has a chipotle ranch dip! So good!
I love this, mostly because it has tequila in!
Me too! It’s Delicious!
I live in an apartment complex that doesn’t allow grills. I realize that’s something that is
non-negotiable to the majority of people out there, or so I’m constantly told, but there are other benefits that were more important to me. That said, is there any way to prepare this in my oven? I do own a cast-iron skillet, and a George Foreman Grill, and my next purchase will be a cast-iron grill pan.
I get the apartment thing! I would do it on the George Foreman grill- I’m not sure on cooking times though as I do not own one! Good luck! 🙂
Thanks for replying!
You are welcome! Enjoy your weekend! 🙂
Wow, all of these dishes look absolutely delicious! The chipotle marinated steak would be amazing with corn and tomatoes; excellent choice for a side item! It’s always great when you can find recipes that have step-by-step pictures like this to help illustrate the process. Nicely done! Thanks for sharing!
Yay for grilling season. This steak looks incredible. Congratulations on that party. The presentation was professionally beautiful. I love that dip, the pasta salad is to die for, and that jar of pickled onions may be the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. 🙂
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) recently posted…Campfire Ribs
Ah shucks! Means a lot coming from you Lea Ann! 🙂