Crazy Lady’s Beef Fajitas

Crazy Lady’s Beef Fajitas

An awesome friend of mine, the one that actually encouraged me to start this blog, asked me to post my recipe for the fajitas we make.  Everyone my husband and I have made these for raved and now make them too.  Yep, they’re that good.  *grin*  So, bear with me since there isn’t really a true recipe, but there are several little tips.  The recipe is definitely not sponsored by any vendors, although that would save us a lot of money on marinades.  *laugh*

We usually get our flank steak at Sam’s Club, since they usually have the best marbling, the steaks are pretty big, and the price often can’t be beat.  I thoroughly trim the fat off and then put it in a trusty gallon sized zip bag.  Here comes the crucial ingredients…I add about an ounce of Allegro Original Marinade (found at most grocery stores, like Walmart and Dillons [if you’re in the Midwest]) and four shakes of Original Flavor Daddy Hinkle’s Marinade.  The Hinkle’s has a reducer top, so I literally just do four shakes into the other marinade.  Between the two your steak should have a nice amount of marinade on it.  We let it marinade at least overnight, but often about 30 or so hours.  I set it out to rest for ten minutes before it’s time to grill.  (Note: Daddy Hinkle’s is often sold in a combo pack at the grocery store [we usually have to go to Dillon’s or Hy-Vee to find Hinkle in any flavor, so you’ll want to go to whatever store you know often has hard to find items].  The other piece in the combo is a container of dry spices.  If you like more spice, then when you set the meat out to rest sprinkle your dry spice over the steak.  It usually makes my stomach upset, so I can’t use it, but Larry loved when we used to be able to add it.  Otherwise, that powder spice is great in breading!)

Larry is king of the grill, so on the gas grill he grills the steak 7 minutes per side, unless the steak is thick and then he will check the temperature and add time if needed.  He found that 7 minutes per side is the sweet spot to reach medium doneness on the grills he has used.  When it’s done we let it sit and rest for 10 minutes on the counter, and then he slices it into really thin slices.  While he’s doing that I’ll cut 2-3 green bell peppers into strips.  (For those that hate cutting bell peppers, there’s actually a less fuss method.  Just start a centimeter or so from the ring around the stem and cut along the contour of the curve down to the bottom.  If you do this the whole way around, the whole center will stay intact and you don’t have to deal with cleaning seeds off of anything.  Then just slice up your strips of pepper.)  In a large frying pan I sauté the peppers with one packet of Swanson’s Beef Flavor Boost and about a quarter cup of water.  If things seem to get dry, then just add a bit more water. I sauté them until they start to turn a pale green and are pretty soft.  You could always cook them less, but I found that there’s a lot less indigestion when they’re cooked down further than the restaurants do.  Once they peppers are all cooked we add the sliced grilled flank steak and any of the yummy juices that come out during the cutting.  *grin*  That gives the peppers even more of a beef flavor.  Once the steak is in I’ll put a splatter screen over the pan and put 2-4 tortillas right on top of the screen.  Why let that steam go to waste?  Let it soften up your tortillas and save you a few extra steps.  Once the steak is warmed back up (we try not to let the meat cook very long, so it stays tender), it’s time to serve. 

We usually put shredded cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and some of the juice from the pan in our tortilla with the meat and peppers (plus salt and pepper to taste, although usually we leave it alone).  We’ve tried a variety of other things, but that combination has made it to finally being the standard for us, and those juices really set these apart.  Even family members that usually load their fajitas up with lots of toppings come to the dark side after they try it our way.  We’ve tried red and yellow peppers (although everyone says they taste the same, my super senses can’t handle either of them usually, so we stick with green now), sour cream, diced tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, and jack cheese.  Change things up and see what works for your family, but this is what works for us.  With just the two of us eating the picture is all that was left after having it for lunch today.  That pan was full to start with!  *laugh* 

Hopefully you’ll like our take on fajitas.  Now back to your regular programming… 😉