Cali Burritos

A rare delicacy that few outside of the San Diego area know about. I travel back to my homeland (in my mind anyways), to bring you all this treasure that I fell in love with back in my teenage years. What makes this so special you ask? Well, a lack of a lot of typical burrito ingredients, and the addition of one oh so good one. There's no rice, no beans, no shredded lettuce or cheese. What kind of burrito is this? One filled with steak, guacamole, pico de gallo, and FRENCH FRIES, that's right people, FRENCH FRIES.

This is not for vegetarians, calorie counters, or the feint of appetite. As I've mentioned before, I always use a shortcut. I am scratch making the pico, guacamole, and steak, but I am using frozen french fries that I'm going to season and bake. I have the pico de gallo and guacamole recipe linked below, but if you so choose, use store bought by all means. The steak is the part you want to do yourself here...mmmmmmmm....steak

California burrito photo from yelp 

Some recipes call for shredded cheese amongst other things, but I feel this really takes away from the guacamole and the steak. I may, rarely, use sour cream, but this burrito is damn near perfect without it. If you're not drooling yet, let's put together some steak:

Steak Marinade:
3/4lb boneless chuck steak
2 tbsp canola or any oil blend
Approximately 2 tbsp lime juice (half of a large, or one small lime)
1/2 rounded tsp of cumin
1/4 tsp red pepper flake or cayenne
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
Freshly cracked black pepper
One large clove of garlic, chopped

This is a very simple marinade for tougher meat. I am cooking for two, so 3/4 of a pound was enough for us, but feel free to double for a bigger party. Poke holes in the steak with a fork or knife so the marinade can penetrate and tenderize the meat. Any acid (like the lime in this recipe), breaks down the tougher cuts of meat. You're just going to put all the ingredients on the steak in a shallow dish and move everything around with tongs so it's evenly distributed on the steak. Let sit roughly two or three hours, even if you're running late, thirty minutes will still give you great flavor. 

To cook:
I prefer to use a cast iron skillet when searing a steak, the cut I chose is also pretty thin, probably about 1/2 inch or slightly under. I let my cast iron skillet heat for about 15 minutes on medium high heat with a very small amount of oil. You want to make sure all the excessive marinade gets drained or wiped off your steak, including the garlic and herbs, those will burn and get bitter and will deter your sear. That is one of the most important words you will learn, SEAR. It seals in the moisture and gives it a restaurant looking finish. 

The steak pictured is thicker than mine, so for a thinner one, I cooked it roughly two and a half minutes on each side. You can go for three if you don't want it pink at all, but it will be tougher. Tent it with foil and let it rest at least five minutes, but up to ten. When you slice it, look which way the grain is running, and slice very thin slices against it. Now all this work, and we get to make the burrito!

Get a burrito size warm tortilla, and how much of each element you put in depends on how much you like it! Put a layer of guacamole, steak, pico de gallo, and french fries (baked according to the package directions), and do a good burrito wrap! If you like hot sauce, this is the perfect burrito. You'll always wonder why someone never put french fries in a burrito before  :D

Here are the links for my pico de gallo and my guacamole