Red's South Texas Fajitas
Submitted by maggiejjj
Authentic South Texas skirt steak fajitas marinated in beer, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, and jalapenos for 6 to 8 hours. Grilled over mesquite for real Tex-Mex flavor.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
40 minREADY
8 hrsThese fajitas come from somebody who watched skirt steak go from cheap butcher scraps to the most overpriced cut on the menu, and they know how to treat it right. The marinade is a powerhouse: beer, fresh lime juice, pierced jalapenos, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, garlic, cilantro, Worcestershire, and an herb-garlic salad dressing that ties everything together.
Six to eight hours in that marinade is what separates tough skirt steak from tender, flavorful fajita meat. The acid from the lime and beer breaks down the muscle fibers, while the spices penetrate deep. Use a non-reactive container, not metal, or the acid reacts and gives the meat a metallic taste.
If you can smoke the meat with mesquite for 30 minutes before finishing over direct heat, do it. That’s the South Texas way. Otherwise, a slow fire with the lid on works. The real trick is in the slicing: cut at a 45-degree angle to the grain with your knife also angled at 45 degrees. This double-angle cut shortens the muscle fibers and makes every bite noticeably more tender.
Pro Tips
- Pierce the jalapenos before adding to the marinade. This lets their heat infuse the liquid instead of staying trapped inside.
- Baste with the marinade throughout grilling to build up a caramelized glaze on the surface.
- Don’t overcook. Skirt steak should be medium at most. Well-done skirt is shoe leather.
- Warm the flour tortillas on the grill for 30 seconds per side before serving.
Variations
- Use flank steak if skirt steak isn’t available. It’s leaner but responds well to the same marinade.
- Add sliced grilled onions and bell peppers to the tortillas for a loaded fajita plate.
- Try this marinade on chicken thighs for a poultry version with the same South Texas spirit.
Ingredients
Directions
About twelve to fifteen years ago, fajitas were discovered.
Since then, an awful lot of good meat has been wrecked, and skirt steak--once a grinder item--has risen sharply in price.
Because skirt doesn’t come from atender quadrant of the carcass, some care is needed to turn it into good food.
First, it needs to be marinated to tenderize and flavor it.
Mix all the ingredients together, except the meat, to make a marinade.
Pour over the skirt steak, in a non-reactive container (not metal), cover, and stir occasiionally for six to eight hours.
Fajitas can be cooked in several ways.
If you have the space, smoke the fajitas for 30 minutes with pure mesquite smoke, and then cook for 4 to 7 minutes per side over direct heat--mesquite coals being the heat of choice.
Baste with the marinade throughout the cooking process.
If you need to cook completely over direct heat, then use a fairly slow fire, about like you should use when grilling chicken, and cook, covered if possible, for about 10 to 15 minutes per side, basting with the marinade.
Figure about a half pound of meat and 3 to 4 tortillas per person.
When slicing fajitas, you’ll notice that the grain of the skirt steak all runs the same way.
If you’ll slice the skirt at a forty-five degree angle to the grain, and hold your knife on a forty-five degree angle as well, you’ll find that the fajitas are much more tender! Serve the fajitas with flour tortillas, pico de gallo salsa, guacamole, and cold beer.
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