Fajitas!

We had friends over for dinner last Tuesday night and we had fajitas, which are one of my favorite dishes to make. I went to grad school in Texas and one of the best things I learned there (aside from how to drink margaritas) was how to make fajitas.

There is some disagreement about the origin of the dish we know as fajitas, but it seems to be pretty clear it originated in the border region between Texas and Mexico. When I first encountered fajitas in the early 1980′s, they were still mostly found at backyard barbecues and hadn’t yet made the jump to every Mexican restaurant in the country. (Come to think of it, in the early 1980′s, there weren’t a lot of Mexican restaurants across the country. I don’t think we had more than maybe two here in Winston-Salem at that time – a far cry from the much larger number we now have.)

One point that everyone agrees on is that the meat originally used for fajitas was beef – skirt steak, to be exact. Once upon a time – up until about 1984, that is – skirt steak was a cheap cut of beef. It’s tough, coarse in texture, and very, very chewy. It’s also, as so many tough meats are, very flavorful. What it’s not is easy to find. If you can’t find skirt steak, try to find something that is similar. Brisket works well, as does flank steak. And yes, I know that there are people in this world who make fajitas from chicken and even shrimp, but I don’t invite them to my house for dinner, so let’s stick to the beef.

Fajitas are grilled beef rolled up in a flour tortilla with other stuff. Here’s a list of some of the other stuff (you may use any or all, or other stuff that you might like):

Grilled or sautéed onions and bell peppers (red bell peppers are really, really good in this)
Shredded cheese
Pico de gallo (the traditional choice, although salsa is a good substitute)
Refried beans
Sliced avocado
Pickled jalapeno rings
Sour cream

Here’s the other thing that goes with fajitas:
Margaritas (seriously important)

Other than preparing the meat, making fajitas is really, really easy. Unless you’re making your own pico de gallo (which is an uncooked relish of tomatoes, peppers and onion, which requires a whole lot of chopping), preparation mostly consists of putting ingredients in serving bowls and putting them on the table. You need to slice the onions and peppers, then sauté them, which I do over high heat in olive oil, but that’s pretty elementary.

Preparing the meat is not difficult, but it takes time. First, there’s the marinade. Pour a bottle of beer into a large ziplock plastic bag. (I like to use a Mexican beer, such as Corona or Tecate because they taste citrusy to me.) Add the juice of two limes, two garlic cloves, minced, and a bunch of Worcestershire sauce. (How much, you ask? I don’t know – some. Seriously – five or six good shakes of the bottle. It’s not rocket science, and you can’t do it wrong.) Gently shake the bag to blend the ingredients, then add the meat. Seal the bag, squeezing all the air out as you do. Put it in a bowl or on a plate and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

You have two choices for cooking the meat – you can grill it or you can smoke it. Which one you choose depends on a number of things. How much time do you have? Not much time? Grill it. Lots of time? Smoke it. What’s the outside temperature? Under 75? Grill it. Over 75? Grill or smoke.

Smoking the meat means cooking it over low heat for a long time using smoke as a flavoring agent. The low, slow cooking will help tenderize the meat, which is good since you’re using a tough cut of meat. However, if you don’t have time to smoke it, you can grill it. You’re going to slice the meat into strips anyway, and if you slice it across the grain, you’ll make it easier to chew, so the fact that it’s tough to start with is minimized by the slicing.

What do I do? I really like to smoke meats, so if I have time, I smoke it. If not, I grill it. One day, I’ll do a post about smoking versus grilling, but not today.

Once you’ve grilled or smoked the meat, cover it with foil to keep it warm while you sauté the onions and peppers. Once they’re done, slice the meat – against the grain (VERY important) – and serve.

Fajitas are messy. You load a lot of stuff into a tortilla then try to eat it without dripping it all over yourself, with varying degrees of success. I usually serve them on the deck and hand people lots of paper towels or even kitchen towels. And, since tasty adult beverages such as beer and margaritas have usually been involved, drippage can be a problem. Just be prepared.

And speaking of margaritas, they are essential. Cook’s Illustrated Magazine ran a recipe several years ago that makes the best margaritas I’ve ever tasted. You remove the zest from 3 lemons and 3 limes, then juice the fruit. Mix the zest and the juice with 1/4 cup sugar. Pour the mixture into a jar, close it and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, strain out the zest and add 1 cup Triple Sec and 1 cup good tequila. (Not great tequila, but do use a good tequila. Make sure it’s a 100% agave tequila, but don’t go so far as to use an añejo – that’s overkill.) Take a slice of lime and rub it on the rim of a margarita glass (or a martini glass – or a wine glass, for that matter), then dip the rim of the glass in salt. Add ice to the glass and pour in the margarita mixture. Then go sit down and enjoy it. Trust me, it’s a fine margarita.

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