DEAR BENICIANS AND BEYOND,

We’re gonna have a great party this weekend at the Clock Tower, so dig out your cowboy boots and get ready for fun and dancing at the third annual Great Bowls of Chili, kicking off at noon this coming Saturday.

We have about 14 contestants and room for at least another eight, so contact Deborah or Nancy at Benicia Main Street and enter your team.

Our newest team entry is Bottom of the Fifth. I know there are dozens of great cooks in Benicia and surrounding cities that would love to bring home one of the many trophies, so come join the fun. I think it would be cool to have a couple Realtors square off as well as insurance companies and banks/mortgage houses. Of course, we have many hidden chefs in a city our size, so scoot on down to Benicia Main Street by Friday and enter your team.

We have an announcement to make regarding a change in our judges. Bonnie had to bow out, so we reached out to Congressman Mike Thompson. Mike has been a great supporter of Benicia Main Street for many years and we’re pleased to have him as one of our judges. Mike has served our local counties (Napa, Contra Costa, Lake, Solano and Sonoma) for many years and we’re honored to have him sit between Lt. Frank Hartig of the Benicia Police Department and Angela Marchant of The Benicia Herald. This may be the first time in history that we have a police officer, politician and a newspaper staffer in the same place without a ruckus going on. I think the last time these three groups got together was Chicago 1968. Ha ha.

So see you there. Get your entry forms in and stop in at Benicia Main Street and purchase your tickets, or you can get them at the Clock Tower on Saturday.

Skirt Steak Skewers

Over the years I have often spoke about skirt steak, which is called arichonda or fajitas by its Mexican/Texas names. This is one of the most favorable meats offered and when cooked right, it just doesn’t get much better than this.

Back in the ’50s and early ’60s this meat was often discarded by butchers, but it was always cherished in West Texas. Folks looked at it as a stringy, tough, ugly cut, but when cleaned up and prepared right it quickly became a Southwest tradition.

An easy way to barbecue skirt steak is to make skewers, which are easy to grill, easy to handle and easy to eat. One of my favorite recipes is “beer-marinated skirt skewers,” not because I like to drink beer but rather the beer combined with other ingredients makes a great marinade.

Let’s Get Started with Marinade and Sauce

Marinate your cleaned and prepared skirt steak for about six hours in the fridge. Taking a can of dark beer, add in fresh lime juice, dark brown sugar, hot chili garlic sauce, Dijon mustard, minced and pressed garlic, kosher salt and paprika. Mix it up real good and set it aside in a large aluminum serving dish. Lay in your 3 pounds of trimmed skirt steak, cover with parchment paper, and in the fridge it goes until you’re ready to barbecue.

We’re going to make the sauce using bell peppers, garlic cloves, cilantro (I don’t care for this but Lé Chef does), jalapeño chili pepper, a couple poblano chilies, virgin olive oil, cumin, black pepper, lime juice and kosher salt. Mix it up and set it to the side.

Skirts Steak Up Please

Cut the steak cross wise into six or seven equal pieces. Then cut each piece lengthwise in half (against the grain). Lay the strips in the aluminum tray containing the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for the next six hours or so.

You can use either bamboo or metal skewers. If you use bamboo, then you’ll need to soak them in water for an hour or so, or they will turn to toast.

Grill the bell pepper for 10 minutes or so, then take off the charred skin and cut it into small pieces. Place the pepper with garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and process to a chunky paste. Transfer to a bowl and voila, you have the sauce.

Grill the skirt steak at a high temperature, say around 350 to 450 F. It only takes about five to six minutes, and you only turn them once. Remove from the grill, serve with your sauce and well, it just doesn’t get much better than this!

Gotta git, but before I go I must say something about tax time and politics.

“The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” — Will Rogers

Adios!

Ken Paulk is a Texas native and a Benicia resident.