Most times, my famiky would wait for a special occasion to prepare alambres norteños(grilled beef kabobs). I have vivid memories of my mom slicing and dicing all of the ingredients on that small kitchen table. That all in one resin cutting board, with permanent food stains, used for everything that needed chopping. Everything! Lol! In my kitchen today, I store several cutting boards, all colors, all sizes. I guess I never really knew the importance of a good knife and a good cutting board until I had to cook on my own.
Mom Had A System That Worked!
My mom would set up her little work station and magically she would always have just the right amount of ingredients to prepare the perfect kabobs. I always end up having too much meat and not enough of the other ingredients. And some of you may wonder why go through the fuss of skewering all those ingredients together, when you can just grill them separately, right? Tradition! It just wouldn’t be the same. For me, these alambres norteños, are as traditional in our family as pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving is to other families. And more than anything, we do it to keep the legacy going!
#foodieforlife #arribaelnorte #tradition #mexicanfood
I ran out of peppers, onions and bacon, so prepared one, all beef, kabob!
I Regret Not Taking More Photos Of All The Cooking!
Why, why, why didn’t I take more photos when I was still living at home?? In 1986, I didn’t have a phone in my pocket! Lol!! If I had documented mom’s cooking, it would had been a lot easier to recreate her dishes once I was on my own and living far from home. Good thing I spent time with her in the kitchen and was generally interested in cooking!
Here is mom preparing some alambres when we lived in Houston. Sometimes she would prepare both chicken and beef. The plastic green colander that I proudly own now. So many wonderful memories attached.
Beware When Adding Vinegar To Any Marinade!
I am just speaking from personal experience. Just because you marinate the meat longer does not mean it going to be more tender. In some cases the longer it’s in the vinegar, the texture of the meat will change and in some cases not change in a good way. For this recipe it a short marinate time.
Wait! What? Pre-Cooked Bacon? No Way!
For years I have been preparing alambres norteños just the way I learned from mom. One day I decided to pre-cook the bacon strips in a 400 degree oven on a metal rack for 20 minutes. That was a more desirable bacon on the kabob! Trust me! Before it was ok, but sometimes in the center, the bacon was extremely soft and not the best texture.
I Cannot Stress Enough To Prep Ahead And Slice Your Alambre Ingredients All Close To The Same Size.
For the 100th time, and I can’t say it enough, invest in an inexpensive meat thermometer. I use mine all the time.
Tacos de Alambre with no melted cheese. Garnished with Tomatillo Avocado Salsa! To prepare the tacos, using the leftover alambres, simply chop the alambre ingredients smaller. Sear in a little oil and add a good melting cheese while still in the pan. Serve on warm tortillas with your favorite salsa, lime and cilantro!
Tacos de Alambre with melted manchego cheese and a Salsa Tatemada de Jalapeño Rojo. I charred red jalapeños instead of green to prepare this spicy and smoky salsa! If you click onto the link. you can find the recipe for the green jalapeño version which would be the same.
One of my absolute favorite tacos to date!
It is most common to use only green bell peppers for the alambres norteños, but why not add some more color by using red or orange?
Here is the chicken version of Alambres Norteños, Alambres de Pollo
https://pinaenlacocina.com/alambres-de-pollo-red-chile-marinated-chicken-skewers/
Alambres Norteños-Grilled Beef Kabobs
Equipment
- 6 12 inch metal skewers
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef sirloin chuck roast or beef stew meat
- Juice of 1 orange
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh cracked pepper
- 2 tbsps red wine vinegar optional
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 pound bacon Pre-cooked
- 2 green bell peppers or poblano
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 large white onion
- 6 12 inch metal skewers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay uncooked bacon on metal rack lined with a baking sheet. When ready, bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Pat excess oil off with paper towels.
- Slice the beef into 1 inch pieces, only making them 1/2 thick. Slice the bacon, peppers and onion as close in size to the beef as possible.
- Add the beef to a bowl. Add orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, spices and oil. Toss well to combine. Cover and marinate for 35-40 minutes.
- When ready, assemble the alambres. I start with beef, bacon, onion and then pepper. Repeat until skewer is filled. You should have about 8 pieces of beef per skewer, more or less. I would suggest using 6 skewers instead of 5 as I did, so the ingredients are not too compact.
- Preheat grill to medium/high heat with the lid closed.
- Brush grates with oil. Place alambres on direct heat. Close lid. You will want to turn the alambres every few minutes for the next 10-15 minutes. If they are charring too fast, move them over to the cool side of the grill and continue cooking until internal temp. of meat reaches 130 degrees F. Serve with warm corn tortillas, salsa and charro beans!
Notes
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