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Top steaks from chef Ricardo Cardona

By Alexis Gorman | Special to amNewYork

2:43 PM EDT, May 27, 2008

A grilled skirt steak at the Hudson River Cafe (Dennis W. Ho)

Chef Ricardo Cardona is known for his flavor-packed Latin American cuisine -- pleasing diners at popular restaurants like 809 Sangria Bar & Grill, Sofrito, and Lua (in NJ). These days, Cardona mans the grill at The Hudson River Café (697 W. 133rd St; 212-491-9111), a sprawling, 6,000-square-foot restaurant in Harlem boasting killer water views, a huge outdoor rooftop, and a brand new stainless-steel grill.

And while the cuisine at The Hudson River Café is technically modern seasonal American, it's easy to see how Cardona's background has influenced his work on the grill. According to Cardona, "Most Latin American foods are all about the marinades. Different meats have different marinades. For the skirt steak that we do here, we do three different mojos (or sauces), chimichurri, corn, and mushroom with sun-dried tomato. The mushroom is my favorite."

Chimichurri, thought to have originated in Argentina, is a popular sauce or marinade used with grilled meats in many Latin American countries. We scored Cardona's chimichurri recipe, comprised of chopped parsley, oregano, garlic, onion, paprika and salt and pepper, as well as his special mushroom "mojo" (below), and grilled him about his meat-making technique.

Recipe: Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and Wild Mushroom "Mojo"

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 pounds skirt steak

For marinade:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon each:
Paprika
Onion powder
Garlic
Cumin
Fresh ground garlic
Canned chipotle pepper, pureed

For chimichurri sauce:
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup olive oil