High-Style Skirt Steak

Call it a Cinderella story for that relatively stringy and inexpensive cut of meat--skirt steak. A fruit juice marinade transforms the steak into a tender meat you can practically cut with a fork.

Any good chef knows the trick, and at the several Daily Grills around town, where Tony Hipp is executive chef, the skirt steak is the most popular meat item on the menu. The Daily Grill’s marinade is soy sauce, rice vinegar, onion, mustard and fruit juices, including pineapple juice, which contains powerful enzymes that break down tough meat fibers.

Keep the marinade in mind for other chewy meat cuts you want to turn tender (rib eye, rump and pork comes to mind). Game and game birds are also good candidates for fruit juice-based marinades.

DAILY GRILL

SKIRT STEAK

6 skirt steaks, trimmed of fat

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup light soy sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup English mustard

Place skirt steaks in non-aluminum pan in single layer. Combine oil, soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice, pineapple juice, onion and mustard. Pour mixture over steaks. Marinate 12 to 24 hours. Remove from marinade and cook steaks over medium-low coals or under broiler 4 inches from source of heat to desired doneness or medium rare for tender results. (Overcooking may cause steak to be tough, depending on meat cut.) Makes 6 steaks.