Carne Asada Torta

Happy Veintidos de Mayo!... I missed "cinco," so here it is a bit late.  I love Mexican food--however I'm shy of heat--oxymoron? Yes, I know.  I recently ate at a local Mexican restaurant and was delighted to find the perfect dish for me.  It was not too hot, not over-priced, not too big, but substantial, lots of flavor and texture, and basically just AWESOME!  So of course, after eating there twice and closely savoring this dish, I set out to recreate... because I'm cheap like that. :)  Here is what I came up with, and besides the melt in your mouth bun they had it in and the avacados, I'd say I came pretty close.
Beef Carne- I found it a while back, reduced at WINCO.  I cooked some of it up to make taco meat, but was disappointed by the fatty texture, so I froze the rest of it and tried to forget it was in my freezer.  THEN,  it came to mind when I set to recreating this dish. I definitely came a little closer to what I think beef carne was intended to become.  Something about that texture and flavor is perfect for this.  It's hard to get an exact recipe because I did a lot of "that and that" experimenting, but I got some ideas from here and hopefully this will give you the general idea in case you want to recreate a bit of heaven on your plate at home, too... because you're cheap like that. :)

Carne Asada Torta (By Lyd)

2 lbs beef carne (basically shredded skirt steak)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 Serrano chilies, de-seeded and minced (to taste) (If you don't love that inevitable pepper burn in your eyes or somewhere, you can use cayenne or Tabasco, but sauteing the pepper with the onions would really enhances the flavor.)

1 tablespoons minced garlic

1 onion chopped

juice of 1 limes (I ended up using about 1/4 cup lime juice)

1/4 cup minced cilantro

1 teaspoons honey or sugar

1/2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoons oregano

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoons ground cumin seed

2 teaspoons kosher salt

black pepper to taste

Saute chilies, onion, and garlic in heated oil. Add beef and other ingredients, simmer on medium low heat for at least 15-30 minutes until meat is cooked and has absorbed the flavors. (I simmered on low for longer- I think almost an hour.) 

Assemble meat on bun with condiments and watch while your wildest dreams come true... in your mouth.

toasted bun, buttered with a bit of garlic salt (I used french bread, because it's what I had, but it didn't work real great for wrapping your mouth around. :)

mayo

fresh salsa

beans (pinto, black, or re-fried)

cheese

lettuce or finely chopped cabbage

avacado (which I was dreaming of, but alas was missing... but it was pretty much the only thing.  Mmmmmm...)