Fajitas 101

The other night I wanted Fajitas. Since I can't make a little, of anything, I called the neighbors down to help.
I have had Fajitas in restaurants and back yard Bar-B-Ques all over and it amazes me what people call Fajitas. There seems to be a mystery as to just what is a fajita? A mystery meal if you will. Allow me to share what I call a Fajita...

To make MY Fajitas you need only:
Skirt Steak, Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (breasts will just dry out and require more stuff to fix), Sliced Yellow Onion, Bell Peppers (any type other than green)

Optional is:
Fruit (Pineapple works very well), Mushrooms, Sour Cream, Cheese (s), Green Onions, Avocado...

Marinade:

For the Chicken-
Tequila, Soy Sauce, THE SAUCE, powdered Garlic, onion powder and cumin.

For the Beef-
Substitute a Dark Beer ( I use amber ale) for the tequila.

And a Bar-B-Que.

Shall we start with the beef? Easy- peasy, unroll the skirt steak onto a cutting board.

Find the thin end, you'll know it when you see it, and trim it off to a length of about 5 inches. This will allow you to keep this part of the meat from becoming jerky. Slice the rest into sections of 5 to 6 inches (this will make the steaks easier to work with on the grill) and put into a zip-lock bag along with the marinade, expel all the air then seal.

The chicken is even easier. Open the package. Pour the chicken into a baggie and add the marinade, expel the air and seal. Massage the baggie to evenly coat the pieces and set aside along with the beef.

Time for a beer. The marinades will need two or three hours to do their magic.

Time to fire up the grill and get to cooking. Remember to keep a cool spot so the chicken has a home and if things get out of control you have a place to go.

 Heat up a small to midsize pan on the grill, add some oil and then the onions. Do this first and they will be ready when the chicken is. (An advantage I have is an abundance of cast iron pans and such, and I have NO problem putting them on the grill.)

Place the chicken on the grill over the coals and let them cook a few minutes and turn them over. Do this a few times then move to that safe spot on the grill to finish coking.

At this point I like to cut the pineapple  into spears season with some brown sugar and chili powder. They join the chicken on the grill. Pineapple likes a long slow sauna not a slash and burn so keep an eye on them.

The beef and optional green onions are next. Remember to save the skinny piece to add later. Cover the grill and talk to your guests for a few minutes.

Keep turning the pieces of beef, checking the chicken and pineapple and stirring the onions. Add the skinny piece of steak onto the hot spot and let it join the party. (Now would be a good time to enlist some help to get the optional things prepped) The hard part in all of this is to NOT BURN ANYTHING! We want a nice "char" not a "cinder". To make things a little harder try to keep the lid closed as much as you can, that is how the smoke comes into play. You don't want smoke- use your oven and cook top.

Just before the meats are done move the pineapple to the coals to caramelize for a couple of minutes. When done, remove the parts to the kitchen and let them rest.

There is a trick to slicing the beef. Cut the steaks into 3 to 4 inch sections and slice them straight down across the grain.

This way the steak will be tender and tasty, instead of chewy and tough.

Slice the chicken against the gran as well. Toss some tortillas onto the grill to warm up, and by golly you got yourself some FAJITAS!




Zowee that still looks good. Next time "Garlic Crusted Salmon on a Plank" Stay Tooned...