The best part of Taco Tuesday is that you don’t need to limit yourself to just tacos. While many Mexican inspired eateries offer special deals on their tacos on Tuesdays, you could always add a burritos. Or skip the taco completely.
Most of us think of Fajitas as a dish imported from Mexico. That would only be half-right. Mexicans working the cattle drives in Texas did create Fajitas, but the dish itself wasn’t first made in Mexico. Fajitas have deep Texan roots. But then again, one could argue that Texas, like so much of the Southwest, was once a part of Mexico.
The first Fajitas were made with skirt steak. The name Fajita can trace its roots to Faja, the Spanish word for belt. Calling skirt steak a belt would be a fairly accurate description of the long strip of marbled beef running along the cow’s diaphragm. Often in the 1930s and 40s ranch hands were paid in cash and cuts of meat. The cuts given out as payment were cuts no one else was willing to pay for, such as skirt steaks. However; in the hands of Mexican cooks, the strips of steak did not go to waste. It was marinated, flash cooked and cut into thin strips that were wrapped in tortillas. Eventually a dish popular in the cattle communities along the Rio Grande Valley made its way beyond their homes and into the cantinas. From there it grew legs.
Sometime around 1973, long after the cowboy cattle drives had come to an end, replaced by the more efficient railroad transportation, a Houston restaurateur named Ninfa Laurenzo began serving grilled, chopped Skirt Steak wrapped in handmade flour tortillas. Around that same time the Hyatt Regency hotel in Austin began serving a similar dish. While Ninfa called hers Tacos al Carbon, the Hyatt named theirs Fajitas. No one knows who got the idea from whom – it could be that Ninfa had visited the Hyatt and remembered the dish from her childhood, or someone associated with the Hyatt was in Houston on business. Regardless a little more than seven years later, the name Fajitas stuck, and the dish had moved from South Texas to specialty chains nation wide. Eventually chicken, shrimp or all vegetable fillings began to take over as options rather than the original skirt steak. These changes might be born of necessity. One thing I can tell you is that skirt steaks aren’t always easy to come by. And at times can fetch a price that will make your head spin.
Fabulous Steak Fajitas
1-1/2 lbs Sirloin Steak
1-1/2 teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
Cayenne or Spicy Peppers Seasoning to taste
1 Garlic Cloves
2 tablespoons Spicy Olive Oil
1/4 cup Beef Stock
1 large Red Bell Pepper
1/2 large Yellow Onion
1/2 large Red Onion
2 large or 4 small Jalapeño Peppers
4 Jumbo Flour Tortillas
2 cups Salsa
2 cups Sour Cream
Thinly slice the steak. Season with Cumin, seasoning salt, chili powder and a pinch or so of Cayenne Pepper. Toss to coat the meat, set aside. Peel and mince garlic.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown steak in oil over medium heat. Place steak and drippings in a slow cooker. Stir in beef stock. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-1/2 hours or until the meat is almost tender.
Core bell pepper, remove seeds and julienne cut. Cut onions in half, peel each, julienne cut. Stem Jalapeño Pepper, slice thinly. Add to the slow cooker and continue to cook another hour, until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Warm tortillas. Spread sour cream over the tortilla, leaving about a half-inch border. Spoon beef and vegetables down the center of the warmed tortillas. If desired, top with salsa and more sour cream. Then fold tortilla over filling, roll and enjoy.
Truly You have formed my inmost being;
You knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give You thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are Your works.
