Fajitas
Although I am by no means a food historian, I think a lot about culinary stories and the formation, transformation, and transmission of culinary traditions and even of individual recipes. Some people may think fajitas come from Mexico, but they are rather from the Tex-Mex kitchen. The dish is an offshoot of Mexican cuisine, to be sure, but Tex-Mex is a distinct and legitimate food tradition. In fact, the new cookbook Amá is specifically Tex-Mex.
It seems that this recipe evolved as a way to use the less tender, less desirable cuts of meat. Mexican ranch hands in Texas were, not surprisingly, given skirt steak, a tougher cut, as part of their remuneration. By making a marinade and cutting the meat into smaller pieces, the meat was tastier and easier to eat, and wrapping it in a tortilla just made sense, I guess.
These days fajitas have become a popular American favorite, not only using the original beef, but also with poultry, seafood, and vegetarian versions. When our kids were young, we would often make a couple versions, and include plenty of fixings, but with just the two of us in the house, we usually just make one kind of meat.
Before I met Hank, he would make a marinade with soy sauce, lime, and bottled Italian dressing, which, to be honest, is fine and serves perfectly well to tenderize and flavor the meat. But I never have bottled Italian dressing in the house, so I had to devise my own marinade, which I include below. The most traditional cut for fajitas is skirt steak, but occasionally if we can’t find a skirt steak, a flank steak works equally well.
As for the fixings, we always make caramelized onions, and I like to add some Arizona Dreaming, a spice blend from Penzey’s Spices. Hank doesn’t like peppers much, so sometimes I cheat and use half of one out of the jar, and warm the strips in the corner of the onion pan. The guacamole is Hank’s thing, so I pretty much stay out of his way on that. I know he mashes up one or two avocados, adds fresh lime juice, Green Mountain brand salsa, ground cumin, and ground coriander, and tastes until it’s right. Finally, we usually add some sour cream, but this time I got inspiration from the aforementioned Amá. There I found a recipe for charred green onion crema, with a variation for lime crema. If you’ve been following along here, you know I’ve been foraging for ramps a lot this spring, so my crema had grilled ramps and lime! So delicious! (Although I made it with sour cream because I didn’t have either option from the cookbook, crème fraîche or crema Mexicana.) Also, for good measure, I included a few pickled ramp stems to lend a touch of acidity, and perhaps this was my favorite fajita ever!
Fajita Marinade for Beef
¼ cup canola oil
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Zest and juice of 1 lime
3 scallions, white and light green parts, chopped
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
Combine all the ingredients. This makes enough for 1-2 pounds of skirt steak if you marinate in a zippered plastic bag. Marinating in a plastic bag allows for less marinade to touch more parts of the meat. However, do put the bag in a baking dish or roasting pan to catch any leaks. If not using a plastic bag, make sure the meat is lying flat in a baking dish and double or triple the recipe, to make enough marinade to cover. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 and up to 12 hours.
Take the meat out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking. When ready to cook, preheat the grill, discard the marinade, and grill over high heat to desired doneness. Slice and serve with warmed tortillas and whatever fixings you want.