Steak Fajitas

We had our first dinner guest tonight since starting the blog.  Christina is in town from Boise and is always craving good Mexican food when she visits California.  We kicked off her trip with homemade Steak Fajitas.  It's one of my all time favorite Mexican dishes and super easy to make at home.  

After seeing Carlos Santana play at the Bridge School Benefit on Sunday, I thought that it was only appropriate to break out the vinyl copy of Abraxas to help my fajitas conjure up some Mexican goodness.  It's amazing how much better guacamole can taste when it's made while listening to "Oye Como Va".  

Tonights dinner was somewhat of a feast.  I made the traditional fajitas and to join them we had Mexican rice, refried beans, guacamole, salsa, and pickled onions.  Needless to say there will be no blog post tomorrow as the wife and I will be enjoying the leftovers.

For the pickled onions:

3/4 cup of white vinegar

2 tablespoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 red onion

For the guacamole:

2 ripe avocados

1/4 - 1/2 red onion (depending on taste)

1 bunch of cilantro (maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons depending on taste)

1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 a jalapeno

salt and pepper

For the salsa:

2 tomatoes (hot house or vine are fine)

1/4-1/2 an onion (depending on taste)

1 tablespoon of cilantro

1/2 a jalapeno

1 garlic clove

salt and pepper

For the fajitas:

1 1/2 lbs steak (I usually use skirt or flank steak)

1 bell pepper

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 large yellow onion

1/2 a red onion

4 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of cumin

1 jalapeno

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

I took the easy way out on the rice and beans and just opened a can of beans and a box of rice.  Also, when headed to the store, don't forget some good tortilla chips to go along with the salsa and guacamole.  Of course, since these are fajitas, don't forget the tortillas as well.

To get started, follow the instructions on the box of rice, typically this takes about 30 minutes to make so it's good to start early.  The rice will stay warm in a covered pot until ready to serve.  I also heated up the beans early on and just left them covered to keep warm.  For the tortillas, but turn the oven on to 200 and place on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes.  If needed, you can keep the rice and beans warm in the oven as well.

For the onions, just combine the vinegar and spices in a sauce pot and bring to a boil.

Slice up half of a large red onion (you can use more if needed or use the rest of the onion for other parts of the meal).

Add the onions to the pot of boiling water and boil for about 30 seconds.  Transfer to a bowl and let cool.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.  

For the guacamole, scoop out the avocados into a bowl.  Dice the onion, garlic, and jalapeno and add to the bowl.  Chop the cilantro and add to the mixture.  Juice the lemon and season with salt and pepper.  

I like to use a potato masher to break up the avocado and combine the ingredients.  Smash avocado and combine, use a spoon to mix well.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.  

Transfer to a bowl and try to resist eating it all before dinner is ready.

For the salsa, the food processor makes life a lot easier.  Just roughly chop the tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, cilantro, and garlic.  Add all ingredients to food processor and season with salt and pepper.  Buzz for just a couple of seconds.  Taste (with a chip is best) and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Transfer to a bowl and again, try to resist eating all the salsa before dinner is ready.

For the main course, julienne the peppers and onions.

Since we have such a small kitchen I usually need to add ingredients to bowls and stack them on top of the fridge or somewhere out of the way to conserve counter space.  Combine the peppers, onions, garlic, and jalapenos.  When cooking with jalapenos or similar peppers, to reduce the heat, slice in half and remove the seeds and tissue.  This is where most of the heat lives.

Next, season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides.

Slice the meat into 1/2 inch strips.

Heat up two pans over medium-high heat and add a drop of oil to both.  If you are halving the recipe for 2 people, you can probably use 1 pan.  If you have a cast iron skillet, this is the perfect recipe for it.

Brown the meat and season with cumin and red pepper flakes.

Make sure to season the vegetables with salt and pepper.  I love cumin and the wife likes spicy food so I added more red pepper flakes and cumin to the veggies as well.

Once the meat is just about cooked and the vegetables are cooked through, about 10 minutes, combine into a single pan.

Mix the ingredients and add to a dish to serve.  Cover and let everything rest for a few minutes while you wrap up the rest of the meal.

The great thing about fajitas is that everyone gets to assemble their own according their preference.  

I would have like to have taken a nice picture of a pretty plate of pre-grubbed on fajitas but I got a little excited and forgot that we were doing a blog.  After already digging in I realized that I forgot to snap a shot of the final product and quickly got this one.  It's not pretty, but it's tasty.  And yes, the wife has me eating whole wheat tortillas...  They're actually not bad.  Salud!