Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I'm always looking for an excuse to make a Mexican feast and since Matt is off today I was able to head to the store to pick up some fresh ingredients to make yummy fajitas, homemade guacamole, yellow rice and perhaps a chocolate cake (ok, cake not at all Mexican, but I promised Catherine a cake when she was potty trained and we're closing in on two weeks in underpants and very few accidents and her telling us that she needs to go! wahoo!).

Because I am in a sharing mood, I am going to post my favorite fajita recipes, compliments of Tyler Florence from his show on the Food Network, Tyler's Ultimate.

I think one of the keys to this recipe is the cut of meat you get. It calls for Flank steak or Skirt steak. Both are harder cuts of meat for me to find, but if you are able to find it, it is well worth the search. You end up with a steak that is very buttery and tender. I'm sad to say that I couldn't find either one so I had to settle for London Broil. I just wasn't up for driving to multiple grocery stores.

Also, it calls for Chipotle Chiles in Adobo sauce. I've had a hard time finding those as well so I just end up using regular green chiles (from a can). I believe the chiles he calls for are pretty spicy, so I was fine with a more mild flavor.

Tyler Florence's Fajitas
Marinade (Mojo):
1 orange, juiced
2 limes, juiced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce
3 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat cut into thirds or 8-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Lime juice, olive oil, optional

12 flour tortillas,
warm Guacamole
Good quality store bought salsa

Directions:
In a small 2 cup measuring cup, or something similar size and shape, combine all the marinade ingredients. Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the beef for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.

Preheat a ridged grill pan on high heat.

Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest. Depending on the size of your grill pan you may need to cook in batches.

Once the beef is off the grill pan and resting, add the bell peppers and onions tossed with lime juice and olive oil, if using. Grill the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, heat up the tortillas. Turn any free burners on a medium low flame. Place a tortilla on each flame and let it char about 30 seconds to 1 minute, flip the tortilla and repeat on the second side. Once heated and charred remove the tortilla to a clean tea towel and wrap to keep warm. Repeat until you have warmed all of your tortillas.

You can also heat your tortillas in a microwave, lightly dampen a tea towel with some water, wrap the tortillas in the damp towel and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Check to see if they are warm, if not repeat the heating at 1 minute intervals until they are warm and pliable.
Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.

To serve:
Spread some guacamole on a tortilla, top with a few slices of steak, peppers and onions, and salsa. Roll up the tortilla to enclose the filling.
May also be served with sour cream and shredded cheese.

I am excited just thinking about it! Enjoy your Monday and I hope you too get too enjoy a taste of Mexico tonight!