A burrito from San Francisco (it's close enough to Oakland)

The only prep work that this recipe required was to marinate the flank steak overnight. Compared to others though, this marinade was simple to make and the prep time was only about 15 minutes. The first step was to peel and chop the garlic cloves. Now, I've never had to peel garlic before, but from what I hear, it's annoying as hell to do. To thwart that, I used a technique I learned from this video. To effectively smash the bulb, I placed it under a cutting board, and used a meat tenderizer to apply the load. The result is below.

Smashed cloves of garlic

Then, I covered the bowl with the same cutting board, shook it ferociously, and spent a few minutes picking out the cloves from this mess.

Somewhere in there is enough garlic to last the average man a long, long time

Once the cloves were chopped, they were mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to produce this lovely marinade.

Carne asada marinade

I couldn't find one big (3-4 lbs) flank steak at the store, but I used two "smaller" ones, and the result was the same. I put them in one of the roasting bags like I used for the mojo pork, poured the marinade in, and really made sure to rub the marinade all over the steaks, tossing each one so that the marinade didn't ignore the steak on top as they sat in the bag overnight. After that, the steaks went into the fridge, where they stayed until I flipped the bag about an hour before I started to cook.

Peek-a-boo!

The next day, I took the steaks out of the fridge, tenderized them, and put them in the oven to broil for about 20 minutes, or until they were cooked to about medium-well. This cook time can vary, depending on how raw or done you want your carne asada to be.

Flank steaks right before going into the oven (or right before they make the transformation to carne asada, depending on how you look at it)

Once the carne asada was in the oven, I turned my attention to the rice and beans. Instead of making the rice from scratch, I was lazy and bought a package of Mexican rice. I cooked it according to the package directions, and simply "cooked" the beans in a saucepan to warm them.

Pretty easy to make Mexican rice when its in a package

Canned pinto beans, the easiest thing I've ever cooked

A few minutes before the carne asada was done, I turned the oven heat down to 400 degrees, and put my tortilla in the oven for about a minute. At this point, everything was ready, and it was time to construct the burrito.

Carne asade (it's a lot funnier when you read it in the Taco Bell chihuahua voice)

There are several variations of the order in which you can construct your burrito, but I went with the order that Freebirds uses. I started with the warm, pliable flour tortilla.

Step 1. Heat tortilla

Next, I added rice to the middle, trying to somewhat have it aligned down one axis of the tortilla.

Step 2. Add rice

The next step was the cheese, a mix of colby and jack.

Step 3. Add cheese

Then came the beans. And I promise you, I added the chopped up carne asada and some salsa, I guess in the excitement, I forgot to take pictures of these steps.

Step 4. Add beans.
<Not pictured> Step 5. Add meat.  Step 6. Add anything else you want in the burrito

With everything in my burrito that I wanted, I folded and rolled it according to the diagrams in the recipe, and it was time to enjoy.

Mission style burrito...w/ ears!!!

Just like with the food from New Orleans, I knew that I would enjoy this. There wasn't a recipe for the burrito, because like the jambalaya, you can put whatever you feel like in the burrito. The carne asada was really the only thing that I had never made from scratch before. It was very juicy and, according to the website I got the recipe from, authentic. The amount of carne asade I made (about 4 lbs) was enough for five fully stuffed burritos so I enjoyed this one several more times after Sunday. Looks like we're a very solid 4/4.

-MB

Carne asada mission style burrito recipe

• Kitchen Items
• Mixing bowl
• Grill or oven
• Saucepans (for rice and beans)
• Carne asada
• Flank steak
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mission style burrito
• Burrito size tortillas
• Carne asada
• Mexican rice
• Pinto beans
• Colby jack cheese
• Salsa
• Additional toppings/veggies/etc.
• Prepare the carne asada marinade by mixing all of the ingredients together. Put flank steak and marinade in marinating bag. Rub marinade into the steak, seal the bag, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cook flank steak, either on grill or in oven, until it reaches desired 'done' level (I went with a medium-well). At the same time, cook beans and rice in saucepans, according to package directions. Place tortilla on grill, or in oven, for a few minutes, in order to warm it and make it pliable. Construct the burrito in this order:
• Rice
• Cheese
• Beans
• Meat
• Salsa and anyother toppings/veggies/etc
• To fold the burrito, follow the instructions and photos below:

Fold the sides in first

Fold the top over, tucking the burrito as you fold

Carne asada marinade recipe source (link)
Burrito construction photo credits (link)

Oakland primer

As my faithful readers may have noticed, I've been a little busy in the last week, and have fallen a little behind on the blog. Yes, I know that the game against Oakland has already transpired, but the thoughts I have later about "what I'm looking for" are unabridged, and exactly as I would have written them a week ago. I'm still going to recap Pitt and give a preview of Oakland, both on the field and in the kitchen, just know that I know that the game has already been played.

When I look back at the Pittsburgh game, a smile comes to my face because of the thoroughness of the butt kicking that game was. Ya, I know the 3rd quarter was a little iffy and the nay-sayers may have started jumping off the bandwagon, but the way that they closed that game was as impressive a finish as I've seen this team have in recent memory (the comeback win against New England to finish 9-7 two years ago was also pretty good, but Welker, Moss, and Brady were all out of the game by the 4th quarter, so meh).

Those who know me, and watch football with me, know that I have a passionate, somewhat rational hatred of getting the ball to start the game. It's not that I don't want the ball, it's more that I think that there are huge momentum swing advantages to getting the ball to start the second half. If you score late in the first half, you get the ball right back and can try and add on. If you're down big in the first half, you can start the second half with the ball and try and cut into the lead. There are many other scenarios, but games are usually won or lost in the second half and I want my team to start that half with the ball, pretty much regardless of the situation. Naturally, when the Texans won the toss and elected to receive, I was bummed. However, the 19 play, "115" yard, 10 minute and 55 second drive that followed, not only turned my frown upside down, but also made me feel a little warm and fuzzy inside (and not just because it ended with a touchdown to OD, who I have on two of my fantasy teams...although that was nice). The Texans ran it whenever and wherever they wanted. They threw it whenever and wherever they wanted. They even got into a couple of 3rd and longs just to let Pittsburgh "do what they do best", and they still converted those plays to keep the drive alive. It was a thing of beauty and one of the few cases I've ever seen where getting the ball to start truly seemed to set a tone and make a difference in the game.

While the offense did stall a little bit once Andre was out (man that looked scary when he first went down), they did the important things right. They didn't allow Schaub to get sacked and they continued to run the ball, (how good did Foster look??) even when Polamalu was doing that thing where he stalks the line of scrimmage and seems to know the snap count (look up the play he made on the goal line against Kerry Collins and the Titans last year). The offensive cherry on top though, was Foster's 42 yard touchdown run that ultimately provided the difference in the score. The way he cut back across the entire field, made Polamalu and LaMarr Woodley miss, and then beat a couple of DBs to the goal line was B..E..A..utiful. 

On the other side, with the exception of the 3rd quarter drive where the Steelers ran the ball right down the field, the defense looked incredible. They got pressure on Big Ben all day, they limited Mike Wallace's big plays, and they had huge hits on the Steelers all day (you can't dance with a broken back Hines Ward). I do feel bad for Johnathan Joseph though. As a defender, his legitimate chances to score are so few and far between and while he did "score" twice, having both plays called back had to be a little upsetting. I know the team won, so he's not gonna cry, but those two scores would have made the scoreboard beating match the beating that took place on the field. All in all, it was a great game to watch, both as a fan of close football games, and as a Texans' fan. They pretty much pushed Pittsburgh around all day and showed how good they can be in all facets of the game. 

Alright, looking "ahead" to Oakland, here are a couple of things I'll be watching:

• Daren McFadden vs Arian Foster: No, these two won't actually be playing against each other, but I'm more concerned with who has the bigger day. The Texans can win if McFadden has a big day, but only if it's an inefficient big day. Meaning, if he gets 150 yards, he better get it on 40 carries. If he has 20 carries for 150 yards, that's trouble for the Texans. For Foster, just keep falling forward, keep moving the chains, and pick up some slack in the pass game that's missing Andre. 
• Jason Campbell vs getting sacked: Because they're running a lot and doing it well, the Raiders have been able to keep Campbell upright for the majority of the season (he's only been sacked twice). If he has time to sit in the pocket, one of those speedy receivers is going to get past someone in the Texans secondary, especially if Kareem Jackson is covering him. Get some pressure, put him on the ground, and the pass game should be kept in relative check.
• Texan's passing offense vs "ghost" of Andre Johnson: Andre's not playing, so his 100+ yards and a touchdown need to be distributed elsewhere. Where exactly? I'm not the offensive coordinator, so I don't know, but it just needs to go somewhere (OD would be nice). 

This game should be pretty physical. Hopefully everyone comes out clean and the Texans come out with a victory. I'll have my score prediction at the bottom of the post.

To the food.

I'm actually cheating a little bit this week. There was nothing that really screamed Oakland that I wanted to make, so I'm making something from San Francisco. Before you get upset though, SF and Oakland are closer than Dallas and Ft. Worth, so it's not really that much of a stretch. Deal with it. 

Created in San Francisco's Mission District, the Mission style burrito features rice, beans, meat, cheese, and other toppings in a large tortilla that's wrapped up tight and is highly portable. Named for the 18th and 19th century Spanish missions that populated the area, the Mission District was an area of high commercial importance in San Fran after the 1906 earthquake and during the rush of European immigrants that followed. During the 1940s, after an influx of Mexican immigrants to the area, the Mission District developed a much more Latin culture that was seen until hipsters moved in around the turn of the century and drove up the cost of living. In 1969, at the tiny Taqueria La Cumbre, the Mission style burrito was born. Looking to create a portable, nutritious meal, the owners of La Cumbre packed whatever ingredients the customer wanted into a large flour tortilla, rolled it up, and wrapped it in foil. So, to honor this fantastic creation, this week's food is:

• Mission style burrito with carne asada

This is one of those weeks where as long as I don't screw up the cooking, the food should taste great. Let's hope the Texans play as good as the food will be. 

Raiders 17

Texans 27

Happy Football Viewing

-MB