We need a good fajita recipe

Get yourself one of those big cans of pickled jalapeños and use that for marinade, it rocks.

Get some of this too:

 

I confess. I buy those marinated fajitas in the meat section of the grocery store. I like em

 

I'm not at home right now, and thus can't post my fajita recipe (It's for chicken fajitas - I've never tried it on beef. But it makes some very good chicken fajitas)

I can tell you that if the recipe does not call for you to marinate skirt steak in lime/lemon juice and garlic, get a different recipe.

For example:
This recipe does not call for lime juice (or lemon juice) and talks about serving guacamole. This is probably some California recipe which won't taste like Texas fajitas.

Emeril Lagasse's recipe is probably a bullseye (though it may be a lot of work)

This one may be easier and worth a try (the absence of garlic on this one makes me a little nervous, though).

-- droxford

 

This is a simple recipe that works for me.

1. Cut up some chicken breast or skirt steak into strips.

2. Cut up some onion, green peppers and mince garlic.

3. Marinate meat, onion and garlic in a mixture of salt, lemon juice, black pepper, salsa (adjust for hotness) and beer, (Don't use an ale or stout or some other stronger tasting beer) for about an hour.

4. Grill meat, onions and peppers. If you want it hotter can also grill with jalepenos.

5. Serve with cheese, guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, more salsa and warm flour tortillas.

 

Hey Fatty

When you're through cooking 'em, post here what recipe you used and your comments about it

-- droxford

 

Boy, I wish I hadn't clicked on this thread. It's only 4AM and I'm craving fajitas... wish they made a fajitas breakfast cereal...

 

Use some Fiesta rub like Mr. Meowgi suggested....sprinkle it generously on both sides of the meat, then marinate all day in a combination of 1/2 picante sauce and 1/2 worcestershire sauce. Grill and enjoy with several cold cervezas.

 

If I want to buy fajita meat, what do I ask for here? In Israel the cuts are based on french butchery instead of american, and its pretty confusing to me.

 

flank steak.

note: this is actually a very tough cut of beef, which is why it is so important to marinate it overnight and equally important to cut the beef AGAINST the grain. You will also probably need to trim the fat from your flank steak before cooking.

-- droxford

 

Pappasito's marinade: Basically: about half pineapple juice, about half soy sauce...a little bit of lime.

Marinate for 14-18 hours in fridge. Grill to preference.

 

Is this Chicken or Steak, or both?

 

We've done it with both. Of course...make sure to cook the chicken all they way. You don't want to invite Sam and Ella to the party.

 

that's why marinating in beer helps because the carbonation helps to tenderize the meat along with the alcohal.

Speaking of carbonation. I use coca-cola to marinate ribs and it works really great too. Just don't marinate for too long or else you won't have any meat on those bones.

 

Thanks for the link to the beef fajita recipe, from Emeril. Could you pls post your chicken fajita recipe?

Thanks

 

I just heard today that, if you put a piece of meat in a glass of Coke for a few days, it gets eaten up. I'll have to try that. My students might find it interesting.

Probably because soft drinks have a pH of about 3.5. Let's see... what's in this one... phosphoric acid. That's a strong one. Does it break the peptide bonds or something?

 

I don't know enough about the specific chemical reaction but can attest from experience that cola is pretty caustic. You can put a little bit of hamburger on a toothpic and let it soak in Coke overnight and it won't be there in the morning.

 

I hear roaches love to run off with coke soaked hambuger

 

Thanks for the link. It makes sense that carbonic acid (not listed in the ingredients, probably because it forms from the water and carbon dioxide) is the main acid. My Diet Coke here lists phosphoric acid, but it's listed after aspartame. And you know there are very tiny amounts of aspartame in there, since it doesn't take much. At some point I'll try the meat myself and see what actually happens, just for fun.

I heard the Coke cleaning up blood on the highway thing from a sophomore science major today (who actually believed it )