Home is my sanctuary, my refuge, my safe place and I’ve always been blessed to have really great neighbors that help to make it that.
Billy is on the road on average 4 months of the year (not
all at one time) so my neighbors tend to watch out for me and make sure I’m
okay. I am truly grateful for that.
So when my neighbors Mark and his teenage grandson Kailer
needed a hand, the least I could do was to make them dinner. I told them that I would make anything that
they wanted; and Kailer requested Fajitas.
Even though I said
yes, I wasn’t quite sure how they would turn out. The fajitas have to get from my cook top to
their house and then will probably sit in the oven for a while until Mark and
Kailer were ready to eat. What makes
fajitas so good is that they come out sizzling hot with crisp veggies and
nicely browned but still juicy strips of meat.
Could I achieve that? Because I
am prideful in nature (yes I have issues, God is STILL working on me) I only
wanted to serve them amazing food…the anxiety! Aaargh!
When the time came to make the fajitas I threw up my prayer “Lord,
please don’t let me fail”. (Apparently I have the whole fear of failure issue
as well; I am revealing waaay more about myself then I ever intended). The trick is to cook everything really
quickly over really high heat, this allows the veggies to stay crispy and the
meat juicy while it’s kept warm in the oven.
After the fact I was greeted with a big ol’ smile and Kailer
emphatically told me that they were the best fajitas he’s ever had; well if
that didn’t make my day!
Here’s what you do.
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| For the marinade you will need Sour Orange juice, the juice of 2 limes, olive oil, sugar, seasoned salt, garlic powder, Chinese five spice, and pepper. Sour orange juice is found in the aisle with the Latin foods. |
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| Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a measuring cup, the spout makes it easy to pour. |
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| To marinade the steak and chicken put each into separate bags, pour about 1/2 cup of marinade into each bag. Be sure and squeeze the air out of the bags before zipping them up. Marinade in the refrigerator for at least one hour, turning the bag. The steak can be marinated overnight, but I prefer to only do the chicken for a couple of hours in an acid based marinade. Of course it's your chicken so do as you please. |
Pre heat the oven to 225 degrees.
Divide the tortillas into two stacks, wrap each stack in foil and put them in the oven to warm.
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| Slice up the peppers and onions. |
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| Slice the steak into thin strips against the grain. I used top sirloin because it's tasty and affordable, but skirt steak would be terrific as well. |
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| I sliced the steak and chicken after marinating so that the marinade wouldn't break down the meat too much. Keep the raw meat on separate dishes. Discard the used marinade. |
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| Now turn the exhaust fan to high. |
The key to fajitas is to cook everything over super high heat, super fast.
If you have a large griddle you could cook all the veggies at once, and then all the meat at once; but since I don't this is the method that I used.
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| Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over high heat. Coat the bottom of the skillet with a little canola or grape seed oil. Add the onions to the hot skillet and season with a little salt, pepper and Mexican oregano. |
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| Cook until the onions have just softened and are a nice golden color, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove them to a sheet pan. |
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| Get the skillet good and hot again and repeat with the green bell peppers. See how the peppers have a little brown color, but are mostly still bright green and have a crisp texture; this takes only about 2 minutes. |
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| Do the same with the red bell peppers. Put the pan in the warm oven while you cook the meat. |
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| Add half the chicken to the hot skillet, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. You can see that the chicken cooks super fast, I just add that chicken to the skillet and all ready the edges are opaque. Brown the chicken on both sides, then remove the cooked chicken to a sheet pan, do not put it on the same dish as the raw chicken. Brown the remaining chicken. |
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| Then add ALL of the cooked chicken to the skillet and pour half of the reserved marinade over the chicken. Cook until the marinade reduces and coats the chicken. Remove that to a sheet pan. |
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| Repeat with the steak; cooking half at a time. The steak will take only about a minute to cook. |
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| You can keep the meat warm in the oven for a bit if needed. |
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| Arrange the meat and veggies in an attractive manner on a platter. I like to keep each thing in separate piles so that guests can take what they like; but it's quite okay to mix the veggies and meat together. Serve with warm flour tortillas, grated cheese, salsa, and sour cream. I also like to make up some rice and beans just to cover all the bases. |
BEEF & CHICKEN FAJITAS FOR A CROWD
Serves 8
FOR THE FAJITAS
1 1/4 lb. Beef steak; top sirloin, or skirt steak
1 1/4 lb. Chicken breast, boneless skinless
Sour
Orange Marinade (recipe follows)
24 Flour
tortillas, taco size
Canola
or grape seed oil
1 ½ Large
onions, sliced
2 Green
bell peppers, sliced lengthwise
2 Red
bell peppers, sliced lengthwise
1 tsp. Oregano, preferably Mexican
Salt
and pepper
2 cups Mexican Blend cheese (grated cheddar or
jack cheese can be substituted)
2 cups Salsa
2 cups Sour cream
1.
Place the whole steak (you may have to cut it in
half to fit) in a zipper bag and pour ½ cup of the marinade over the top. Zip up the bag and marinade in the refrigerator
for one to overnight, turning the bag every so often. In a separate bag do the same with the
chicken, though I prefer to only marinade the chicken for a couple of hours, do
whatever you’re comfortable with. Keep
the remaining marinade refrigerated.
2.
When the meat has marinated; slice the steak
against the grain into thin strips.
Slice the chicken into thin strips.
Keep the raw meat in separated dishes; discard the used marinade.
3.
Have a couple of sheet pans ready to go and heat
the oven just to warm.
4.
Divide the tortillas into two stacks and wrap each
stack in foil. Place in the oven.
5.
Each item will cook in batches and be kept warm
in the oven, in order to not overcook them; veggies will not be cooked all the
way through.
6.
Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over high
heat. (You will want to turn the exhaust
fan on) Coat the bottom of the pan with just a little oil; add the onions with
a pinch of salt, pepper and ¼ tsp. of oregano.
Cook, stirring just until the onions are soft 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a sheet pan.
7.
Add a bit more oil to the bottom of the skillet
along with the green bell peppers, a pinch of salt and half of the remaining
oregano. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes,
just to get a little color and to remove the rawness from the peppers they should still be
crisp. Remove to the same sheet pan as
the onions
8.
Repeat with the red bell peppers. When they are done, put the pan of veggies
into the oven to keep warm.
9.
Again, coat the bottom of the hot skillet in
oil, add half of the chicken; season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Brown both
sides of the chicken for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side, until the chicken is
cooked through. Remove the cooked
chicken to a sheet and repeat with the other half of the chicken. When that the chicken has cooked add ALL the
cooked chicken back to the skillet and add half of the reserved marinade;
stirring for a couple of minutes until the marinade reduces and it coats the
chicken. Remove to a sheet pan, and keep
warm in the oven.
10.
Wipe the skillet down and heat it once again on
high heat, add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet and add half
the beef. Repeat the same process with
the beef as with the chicken; however the beef will cook for only 1 minute
on each side, depending on how well done you like your steak.
11.
Arrange all the cooked meat and vegetables in an
attractive on a platter.
12.
Serve with warmed flour tortillas, grated
cheese, salsa and sour cream.
FOR THE SOUR ORANGE MARINADE
1 cup Sour orange juice (found in the Latin
food aisle)
2 limes,
juice of
1/3 cup Olive oil
1 ½ tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Seasoned salt
¼ tsp. Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp. Garlic powder
¼ tsp. Black pepper
1. Combine all the
ingredients in a large measuring cup.
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| Huevos Rancheros |
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