Fajitas

There is no dish better suited to be topped with a fresh Pico De Gallo than a fajita taco.  Fajita meat is made with a cut called skirt steak.  It's typically a lower cost cut that is thin with a lot of connective tissue which makes it tough unless properly prepared and served.  A skirt steak is big on flavor, and with some simple techniques it can be tender as well.  It's all about the marinade, the rest, and the proper slice.

There are two cuts of skirt steak - outside and inside.  Inside is much more commonly found and is lower in cost. Outside skirt steak is the "real fajita" meat and costs more.  I don't find it at our market very often.  Rob Walsh wrote about this a couple of years ago.  The Japanese pay a premium for it and our fine government charges them no tariff, so off our outside skirt steak goes.

Juan Soto, owner of La Parranda, a local Tex-Mex place on Stuebner Airline has offered to sell me an outside cut. They are the only Tex-Mex place I know on the north side of Houston that uses outside skirt steak for their fajitas. Every time I get ready to take him up on that offer I just end up eating theirs because its wonderful.  They make a great hand made corn tortilla too!

Beef flavor should be the star in fajitas.  I don't mind some spice, but I don't care for it when it tastes like an over seasoned montage of something else.  I like beef.

I simply salt and pepper the meat and squeeze a generous amount of lime over the skirt steak.  Cover it or place it in an air tight bag and remove as much air as you can.  Let this sit on the counter for at least an hour.

The acid in the lime juice starts to break down the tough stuff. The beginning of tender tasty beef happiness. Some folks take off that thin membrane you see there in the picture.  I say screw that, its bringing some flavor to party. Trim it later when its done IMO.

I've never seen a Mexican grill any meat with out some green onions.  Never.  And its for good reason. Grilling green onion adds aroma that is hard to resist.  Skirt steak is absolutely best cooked over mesquite charcoal or wood. The char and light smoke are the final flavors needed for a real fajita taco.

On wonderfully hot coals sear each side for 5 - 6 minutes depending on just how hot you have this fire.  Flip it just once.  Skirt steak is a thin cut so I'm not necessarily looking for the medium rare pink center.  Once you've grilled the skirt steak immediately wrap it tightly in aluminum foil.  What is happening now is the meat will begin to slowly cool and rest.  Resting is very important for all grilled beef.  The high heat pushes the fat juices to the center compressing them.  Resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout the cut making for a moist piece of beef.

This grilled skirt steak can rest wrapped in foil for as long as 20 minutes and still be hot to the touch.  While your skirt steak is relaxing, grill some onion and bell pepper to use with your fajita taco.  Might as well char up a Serrano pepper for those looking for some heat.

This next best thing you can do for tender pieces of skirt steak is to be sure to slice it across the grain. Skirt steak is long and skinny.  It's tempting to just slice it cross ways from one end to the other, but that is actually with the grain and makes for tougher eating.  Cut the skirt steak in to 2" - 3" sections and slice down what once was the long side.  Now your cutting against the grain for a tender slice.

Wrong direction:

Here is an image from The Tasty Kitchen blog where she has it right.  I was too busy making tacos to snap a photo of mine.  That and my fingers were dripping with beef juices and I didn't want to smeg my camera.

Correct:

Cutting across the grain makes a massive difference in a skirt steak.  Really really important.

Toast up some tortillas on a comal for your taco.  Corn is my favorite, but you mostly find flour tortillas at the Tex-Mex joints.  I have noticed that most taco trucks serve corn tortillas interestingly enough.  

For me its best topped with Pico De Gallo.  Michelle likes some sour cream and cheese.  What ever tips your taco. Again, no photo.  By now I had pico de gallo stuck to my thumbs.  Sorry.

Making tacos sure is fun.

Pork Chops with Damiana Glaze, Carrot Bredie, & Asparagus

While staring at the empty glass that once contained my favorite margarita a thought occurred to me.  Damiana is a sweet distinctive liquor, so why not use it in a recipe other than a margarita.  So I lit the charcoal, seasoned some thick bone in pork chops, and made another margarita.

My game plan was to use some spice with zip to compliment the sweetness of the glaze I wanted to try.  The pork chops got a healthy dose of Spanish hot paprika, garlic salt, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.

Shucking Oysters

The first fall after Michelle moved to Texas, she woke up one Saturday and asked me where we could get a sack of oysters to shuck ourselves.  You mean oysters aren't born on a tray of ice with lemons, crackers and cocktail sauce?  My first thought was, why in the deep blue sea would I do that when I can get a bartender to serve me some ready to eat?  I'm in business for myself.  I believe in outsourcing.  I'm happy to pay for someone else to jab a steel blade into their own hand for my eating enjoyment.  Hell, I've never even shucked an oyster before, but I wasn't totally ready to admit that to Michelle just yet.  Its not like she makes it easy when she discovers she has one on me.  It was agreed that I would let her show me how to shuck an oyster if I could be in charge of the thermostat - for a few days anyway.  

So on a splendid Saturday afternoon we hit the seafood market, came home, had some friends over, and shucked some oysters. 

Smokey Pork Chops

For pork, chicken, and some cuts of beef I like to sear on high heat directly over white hot coals, and then finish in a smokey roast to get at the right temperature while leaving a whisper of earthiness. Sear & Smoke just like it says on my grill.

This time around it's a 1 1/2 inch thick bone in pork chop seasoned and sweated. I find it best to let the meat get to room temp before cooking. Season with salt and pepper and let it sweat out the water. This makes for a juicier more flavorful piece of meat. Beyond salt and pepper be gentle with your additions of choice like garlic, paprika, and onion powder.  I like to let a pork chop be a pork chop.  Get the coals going while that chop is getting to know the spices.

It's lump charcoal for me started in a Weber chimney. A piece of packing paper will get a good pile of charcoal into a full roar in no time at all. A decent pair of gloves to block the heat is a good idea while spreading hot coals.  Spread them on one side of the grill leaving room on the opposite side to smoke.

The fire trey in this grill can be raised an lowered to adjust for the temperature of the fire.  I raise the fire trey high for searing. Once the grill is flaming hot I use an onion top with a long fork or tongs for a grill brush with benefits. It cleans and leaves a little onion oil behind for flavor with a little non stick action.  More than likely somewhere along the way an onion is your meal so put those onion ends to work.


Toss on your chop and sear for only a couple of minutes per side. Take this moment to enjoy the site, sound and smell of searing meat.  This experience pairs well with about any cocktail, wine, or beer.  Other than eating this dish, it is at this sizzling moment where the joy of grilling is to be savored.

Your looking for grill marks and a little crusty edge. Once the char is right move the chops to the opposite side of the grill off the direct flame. Throw in a few smoker chunks, and shut the lid for approx 25 minutes. There are some variables that influence how long exactly you let the meat roast in that smokey surrounding. How thick, how hot, and so forth.  About 25 minutes around 400 for a thick bone in chop is works for me. If its a half chicken for example, I let it roast for about 40 - 45 minutes. But you can check it along the way if you need a confidence boost.

Use an instant read thermometer in the meat. Never cut open a chop unless you want to watch all the yumminess run out onto your coals.  150 for a chop is about right because they need to rest for a spell. Put them in a pan and cover with foil to hold some heat in there.  While resting they will still be cooking and will get up around 160 which is were you want a chop served.  Let that baby rest for at least 10 minutes. All that searing and smoke roasting drove the juices to the center. Now that heat is no longer being applied the juices are making their way back to the surface. Just let it happen at a natural pace and the chops will taste juicy and out of sight.

Since the meat is only in the smoke roast for 25 - 30 minutes I don't think what type of wood is all that important. If your smoking a pork butt for 12 hours you might want a milder wood, but for the sear and smoke even a strong wood doesn't have time to over power the meat, but that's just me.

This cooking method produces a tender juicy pork chop with a light smokey edge.  Do several of them at a time.  Left overs are awesome sliced up on a salad.

Light The Grill!