[brace yourselves]

This is the easiest, most flavorful marinade recipe I’ve ever found.

While I wish I could claim it as my own, it’s not. It’s her’s – the Homesick Texan.

And I’ve followed her cooking blog religiously ever since I stumbled on it.

But here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 lbs. Beef Skirt Steak
• 1 Jalapeno
• 1/2 Cup Lime Juice
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• 1/4 Cup Cilantro
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Black Pepper (yep, one tablespoon)

I’m not sure if you can find skirt steak everywhere, but we’re extremely lucky they ship it in for us.

Roughly chop up the cilantro & jalapeno – nothing fancy.

Throw all the dry ingredients (everything but the lime juice) into a big, country blue plastic bowl – preferrably circa 1989, if you have one.

If not – any bowl will do or even a big ziploc bag.

Then add in the lime juice & stir that sucker around.

The smell alone at this point is worth it – even if you don’t have skirt steak to marinade it in.

Heck, you could probably use chicken if you wanted to.

At this point you’ll have to pull your head out of the bowl so you can add in the meat.

Since skirt steak is a long, thin slab, I cut it into 4 pieces to make it easier to handle.

Toss the marinade over the meat a bit then shove it in the fridge.

It can sit in there anywhere from 2 – 8 hours, just be sure to turn the meat over occasionally.

Once you’re ready to pull it out, you can either grill it – like us now that we actually have a real BBQ grill.

Or amazingly you can get the EXACT SAME charred flavor if you don’t have a grill.

[kid you not]

You’ll just need a cast iron skillet & a really good vent hood.

That’s how we tried this recipe first & man, was it good. It didn’t smoke up the house too bad…but even then, the smell that filled the house was worth it, Baby.

You can read her full instructions here.

Had Eric or I been able to control ourselves, I would’ve had pictures of the actual completed tacos for you.

But we wrapped those suckers up in flour tortillas quicker than you can spit & downed them all on the spot.

And while you can add all kinds of toppings if you want (cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, etc.) – the best way is to just add a bit of guacamole.

Keeping it simple lets the flavor of the meat come through.

So there you are – go out & celebrate! For you, too, can now eat the food of the Tex-Mex Gods.

Disclaimer: The Homesick Texan, goddess divine that she is, has no idea who I am or that I even exist – especially so far away from home. This is her recipe, not mine & I’ve followed her rules for sharing to the best of my ability. So help me God.