Flank Steak, Roasted Pasilla Pepper and Sharp Cheddar Cheese Panini

I love Pam’s blog “For The Love of Cooking”. I have tried her Strawberry and Banana Muffins and they were delicious! She has posted several sandwich/Panini recipes on her blog. One day my hubby happened to see this Panini recipe in my reader and asked me why don’t you make this? He loves steak…so I tried it; the recipe was really simple and easy to make. The only thing is while Pam made this Panini with her left over Carne Asada, I made the Carne Asada to make this Panini. It was really delicious and I have already tried this twice. Thank you Pam for the recipe.

Flank Steak, Roasted Pasilla Pepper and Sharp Cheddar Cheese Panini

Adapted from here

Ingredients:

Flank steak (preferably carne asada, recipe follows)
2 slices of whole wheat sour dough bread (I used brown toast bread)

3 pasilla peppers, roasted (I used Capsicum)
Sharp cheddar cheese
Mayonnaise
Frank's Red Hot Sauce
I aso used some caramelized onions too.

Method:

Roast the Peppers:

• Clean the pasilla peppers/ Capscumand carefully slit them down the center. Gently remove the seeds from the inside of the pepper. Line a baking sheet with tin foil then place the pepper on top.
• Broil until peppers are blackened on all sides. Transfer the peppers to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool for 10 minutes.
• Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the blackened skin and stem gently. Slice into strips.

Prepare the sandwich:

• Preheat your panini grill or a large skillet over medium heat. Mix a few tablespoons of mayonnaise with a few teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot Sauce; taste and add more hot sauce if desired.
• Spread the mayonnaise mixture on each slice of bread.
• Next add the slices of flank steak then roasted pasilla peppers/capscium, caramilised onions and finally the sharp cheddar cheese; top the sandwich with the other slice of bread and place on the panini maker then cook for 5 minutes.
• If you are using a skillet, cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until it's golden brown.
• Slice and serve with extra mayonnaise sauce on the side.
• Enjoy.

Carne Asada
Carne asada is a roasted beef dish, literally meaning "roasted meat." The dish mainly consists of pieces or thin cuts of beef (e.g. flank steak, skirt steak), sometimes marinated, sometimes lightly salted or rubbed with salt, pepper and/or spices, and then grilled. It can be eaten alone, with side dishes, chopped and eaten as tacos, or chopped and used as filler for tortas, burritos, etc. It is commonly accompanied with guacamole, salsa, beans, and grilled scallions and tortillas. (Source Wikipedia).

Carne Asada Marinade:

Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs of flank steak
1/3 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 limes, juiced
4-5 cloves garlic minced

Method:

• In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine all ingredients with flank steak and mix really well. Let marinate for at least 6 hours - overnight if you can.
• Grill steak until desired degree of doneness. Let sit for at least 5-10minutes. Once the meat has cooled, slice across grain into small chunks.

I forgot to take a picture of Carne Asada..will upload photo next time :)