Thursday, February 26, 2015

Beef Fajitas

Beef Fajitas

When I get a hankering for beef fajitas, I pretty much can think of nothing else until I eat them. I made them over the weekend after a profound craving set in—and no, I’m not pregnant I think as far as I know—and ohhhhh, was the reward so sweet.
Here’s how I like to make ‘em.

Beef Fajitas
Start by drizzling some olive oil into a dish…

Beef Fajitas
Then add some Worcestershire sauce.
And there you have it! Beef fajitas.
Just kidding.

Beef Fajitas
Then slice up a bunch o’ limes…

Beef Fajitas
And squeeze the juice on in.

Beef Fajitas
Then chop up some garlic…

Beef Fajitas
And throw it in, too!

Beef Fajitas
For the spices, I used cumin…

Beef Fajitas
Because I love cumin and I associate it with anything Tex-Mexy.

Beef Fajitas
And some chili powder…

Beef Fajitas
And red pepper flakes for heat.

Beef Fajitas
Bada BING!
I have no idea why I just said bada bing.
Sometimes these things just come out.

Beef Fajitas
Add some salt…

Beef Fajitas
Some black pepper….

Beef Fajitas
And just a little bit of sugar, because it makes the savory even better.

Beef Fajitas
Now, whisk the whole mess together…

Beef Fajitas
And pour half of it into a second dish.
I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Beef Fajitas
Grab your hunka beef and throw it into one of the dishes…

Beef Fajitas
Then turn the meat over to coat it in the marinade.

Beef Fajitas
Now for the veggies, which are an important part of fajitas: slice up a couple of onions…

Beef Fajitas
A red bell pepper…

Beef Fajitas
An orange bell pepper…

Beef Fajitas
A yeller bell pepper…

Beef Fajitas
And a green bell pepper.
I love all the colors.
But you can just pick one or two.
You can also do diced zucchini.
Sliced mushrooms.
Any vegetables you love.

Beef Fajitas
Throw them into the second dish of stuff…

Beef Fajitas
Use your hands to toss the veggies around and coat them in the marinade. It won’t totally gloop them up, it will just give them a little coating of spice.
And here’s the thing: A lot of people just throw the meat and veggies into the dish together. A lot of people like to just marinate the meat and veggies together.
I’ve done it a lot myself.
But some people don’t like the idea of marinating raw meat and raw veggies together.
I’m that way with chicken. But not with beef.
But for the purposes of this post, I showed them marinating separately to show you how easy it is.
Now, just stick ‘em in the fridge and let ‘em marinate for a good couple of hours.

Beef Fajitas
When you’re ready to make the fuh-hee-tus, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in a little olive oil or canola oil. Throw in the veggies…

Beef Fajitas
And cook them, stirring them around…

Beef Fajitas
Until they’re nice and golden, with some flecks of brown and black. I don’t like to let the veggies get soggy; I still want ‘em to have a little bite!

Beef Fajitas
Remove the veggies to a bowl or plate, then get the fixins ready: I crumbled up some queso fresco, which I love, but you can use any grated cheese, too!

Beef Fajitas
I just grabbed some salsa and sour cream to go with the cheese, but if you want to whip up some pico de gallo and/or guacamole, I wouldn’t blame you one bit.

Beef Fajitas
Drizzle some oil in the same skillet or on a grill pan if you have one, and throw on the flank steak. The heat needs to be very high!

Beef Fajitas
Grill it for a minute at first, then rotate it 45 degrees on the same side to make lovely grill marks.

Beef Fajitas
No more than a minute later, flip the flank steak…

Beef Fajitas
To the other side and cook it, rotating it 45 degrees again, for a total of a minute, minute-and-a-half.
You don’t want to overcook the flank steak, and because it’s thin, it will cook in no time! So probably a total of 3 to 4 minutes is all you want to do…maybe even a little less.
I’m so terrified of overcooking beef. I avoid it at all costs.
Unless it’s ground beef. Then I cook the heck out of it with wild abandon.

Beef Fajitas
When it’s done? Ta-da!

Beef Fajitas
This looks good enough to eat.

Beef Fajitas
Slice up the steak into thin strips…

Beef Fajitas
And be sure to sneak a couple of bites. You have to confirm everything tastes good, right?
Then, when you’ve confirmed this, sneak a couple more bites.
Repeat as needed.

Beef Fajitas
I think it’s fun to serve both the steak and the veggies directly on a cutting board.

Beef Fajitas
It makes it appear very grabbable.

Beef Fajitas
At the end, bring out some very, very warm flour tortillas so everyone can start to build! I started with veggies…

Beef Fajitas
Some strips of beef…

Beef Fajitas
Plenty of fromage, I mean queso…

Beef Fajitas
A nice spoonful of very spicy salsa…

Beef Fajitas
A dollop of sour cream…

Beef Fajitas
And then, for a little freshness, a few cilantro leaves.
Uh…yum!

Beef Fajitas
This is divination right here, baby.

Beef Fajitas
Pure divination.
(And “divination,” I now know, means “fortune telling.” I’m awesome with vocabulary! Not.)
Here’s the handy dandy printable!

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