Recipe: Fajitas & Pico de Gallo

Pedantic Prelude: Considering that fajita refers to a very particular part of a steer, that is exactly what this recipe involves. Although common use includes things like "chicken fajita," that means "chicken beef skirt steak," and not "chicken served in a particular way."

• 2 pounds skirt steak


• 1 bottle Mrs. Dash's Southwestern Chipotle marinade - I was actually looking for Consorzio Baja Lime 10-Minute Marinade but the market was entirely out of stock on all Consorzio products; I'll try it at some future time, although the Mrs. Dash's did an exceptional job so I'll use that again as well.


• 1 cup mesquite chips
  
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• 1 poblano pepper, sliced in thin strips


• 1 unidentified allegedly hot pepper that was supposed to go into the pico de gallo but went in here because it was too sweet


• 3 peppers, sliced in thin strips (we used green, red, and yellow for color variation)


• 1 small white onion, sliced in thin strips


• oil (I used canola and a bit of a spiced garlic oil)


• freshly ground black pepper


• 1 lime
  
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• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped


• 1 small white onion, finely chopped


• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped


• oregano


• basil
  
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• fresh, warmed flour tortillas


• cheddar and/or monterey jack cheeses, shredded


• sour cream

Marinate the skirt steak, covering it completely and refrigerating, shaking/mixing it periodically. Since this is a "10-minute marinade" you don't have to go too long - I marinated about 2-3 hours.

Chop and mix the plum tomatoes, onion, and poblano, adding spices to taste. Refrigerate.

Soak mesquite chips in water for at least a half hour.

Put mesquite chips in heavy duty foil and place to one side, directly on unlit charcoal or on the lava rocks in a gas grill. Pre-heat grill until chips are smoking steadily.

Put steaks on grill - not over the wood chips! - and cook about 6 minutes. On side burner, heat oil(s) in a cast iron pan just before the time is up on the steak. Turn the steaks over and squeeze half the lime juice onto steaks. Add sliced onion to pan, adding fresh ground black pepper to taste. Stir constantly. After a minute or two, add peppers, and squeeze the other half of the lime onto the peppers and onions. Continue to stir fry. After another two minutes or so, turn off the heat on the peppers and onions, and if the steaks have hit 135F turn off the heat on the grill and remove the steaks.

Let the steaks sit for about 10 minutes - if you're doing the peppers and onions on the stove you can actually get them done now.

Serve assembly line style, with warmed tortillas, steak (sliced against the grain), pico de gallo, peppers and onions, cheeses, and sour cream.

Cookout Report

Rain threatened, fell early and later - but it was actually fairly nice during the cookout.

Due to the rain, it was quite crowded - my co-worker Rich was the only attendee. So, more fajitas for us! Given that it was the first time I made them, they came out excellent. Compared to all the other fajitas I've had from here to Austin to Brownsville Texas, prepared by chefs American, Texan, and Mexican, all of whom have made fajitas at least one other time prior to serving them to me, it was excellent. The skirt steak came out a lot more tender than I had expected - charred on the outside, but not overdone. Best fajitas I've ever had.

After a delicious meal, Rich, Rachel, and I played Cartagena while Johannes Linstead, Ottmar Liebert, and Paco de Lucia continued to entertain us.