Skirt steak with chimichurri

As frugal shoppers always on the lookout for a deal, we get the opportunity to try interesting things that wouldn't normally be on our weekly shopping list. Hunting for clearance meat (and then tossing it in the freezer until its needed) in particular is one of our favorite ways to expand our culinary horizons, and this week we found skirt steak - a cut of beef we've never actually cooked with before.

For this nicer cut of beef we wanted something spectacular, so we decide to put together a restaurant style meal with Mexican leanings. We'll be having thin slices of the skirt steak topped with a chimichurri sauce, with rice and beans on the side.

Here are our main ingredients for the sauce: dried basil and oregano, fresh cilantro and parsley, diced garlic, a red chili pepper, lemon, lime, olive oil, and an onion.

Before making the sauce we've got to marinate our meat. If you haven't seen skirt steak before, it's got thin scoring all along the sides, so there's no need to stab it with a fork or directly inject the meat, as the marinade is going to soak in nicely by itself.

Here we've put together our own marinade of oil, fresh herbs, lemon and lime juice, and silver tequila. Be sure to enjoy a shot or two while cooking!

After marinating for a few hours, we throw the steaks on a very hot skillet and let it sizzle (yeah, that's a lot of smoke there!)

Here's one of the steaks, blackened on the outside but still medium-rare on the inside, which is how I like. Megan prefers her's very well done, so it's still cooking away on the skillet on a lower heat.

Now it's time to put together the chimichurri, which is simplicity itself - just dice and chop all the previously mentioned ingredients, throw them in a blender and lightly pulse until it's mixed through (you could use a food processor if you want it more thick and less saucy), and then set in in the fridge for about an hour to set. This is a fantastic alternative to sour cream sauces or super spicy hot sauces, and the fresh cilantro creates a fabulous flavor, making this a great addition to any Mexican style meal.

Here's my plate ready to go with several slices of skirt steak covered in chimicurri sauce, along with sides of rice and black beans.

Seeing those beautiful cuts of skirt steak, Cristal decided she wanted hers like an enchilada, so we pulled out the tortillas and used the chimichurri in place of sour cream and salsa. This is an equally delicious way to enjoy the meal!