Side Dishes

The Best Steak Fajitas

March 12, 2012 – 10:43 am

Happy Monday! It’s 10:00 in the morning, I’m running on nothing but a cup of coffee and staring at this picture is literally making my stomach growl. I can’t even begin to describe in words the deliciousness that’s before you. Can you see the beauty of the perfectly grilled steak up above? Slightly pink in the middle. Tender. Juicy. Perfection. Fajitas are fairly simple to make but can go terribly wrong. Please do not ever buy a packet of seasoning mix labeled “fajitas” ever again. Delicious steak fajitas are dependent upon a few factors. It comes down to the cut of meat you use, marinading properly to both season and tenderize, proper cooking method and using fresh, flavorful ingredients and toppings. This recipe is from Tyler Florence and I made a few modifications for our family. The original recipe calls for three chipotle peppers. Now I love super spicy food but for kiddos or adults that don’t, one chipotle pepper is plenty. I used just one the most recent time I made this with a bit of extra adobo sauce from the canned chipotles and it was mild enough for my boys. Now onto the toppings. The pico do gallo recipe is from Pioneer Woman and we really love it. And wonderful guacamole is an absolute fajita essential in my book and my recipe is linked below. I hope you get a chance to make these. They are easily in my top ten favorite dinner recipes list!

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1 orange, juiced
2 limes, juiced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1-3 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce, depending on level of spice desired. I would start with 1 the first time you make this and then adjust from there.
3 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat cut into thirds or 8-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
4 assorted color bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange), thinly sliced
1 large white or red onion, thinly sliced
Lime juice, olive oil, optional
12 flour tortillas, warm
Guacamole , click for recipe
Pico de gallo, see below
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions

In a small 2 cup measuring cup, or something similar size and shape, combine all the marinade ingredients. Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Alternatively, you may combine all ingredients in a food processor or standard blender and process until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the beef for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.

Preheat a ridged grill pan on high heat.

Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest. Depending on the size of your grill pan you may need to cook in batches.

Once the beef is off the grill pan and resting, add the bell peppers and onions tossed with lime juice and olive oil, if using. Grill the mixture for 5 to 7 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, heat up the tortillas. Turn any free burners on a medium low flame. Place a tortilla on each flame and let it char about 30 seconds to 1 minute, flip the tortilla and repeat on the second side. Once heated and charred remove the tortilla to a clean tea towel and wrap to keep warm. Repeat until you have warmed all of your tortillas.

You can also heat your tortillas in a microwave, lightly dampen a tea towel with some water, wrap the tortillas in the damp towel and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Check to see if they are warm, if not repeat the heating at 1 minute intervals until they are warm and pliable.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.

To serve:

Spread some guacamole on a tortilla, top with a few slices of steak, peppers and onions, pico de gallo, sour cream and cheese. Roll up the tortilla to enclose the filling.

Source: Food Network

Pico De Gallo

Ingredients:

5 whole Roma tomatoes
1 small onion
2 whole jalapeno peppers
Cilantro
Lime juice
Salt to taste

Directions:

Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Remove ribs and seeds from jalapenos unless you want it super spicy). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.
Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.

Source: Pioneer Woman

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Baked Garlic Rice Pilaf

July 2, 2010 – 10:42 am

This is hands down my favorite side dish. I love the great garlic flavor, the bright notes from the squeeze of lemon juice but most of all the baking method of cooking gives this rice a perfect texture. It does take a bit of time to bake but putting it together is a snap.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup long-grain white rice
2½ cups chicken broth, divided
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Have ready a covered casserole dish. In a saucepan or skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and rice to the pan and cook until both are golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth, the salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish, cover, and bake for 25 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1½ cups chicken broth and bake, covered, for another 45 minutes. About 15 minutes before it is finished baking, stir in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Note: This recipe can be doubled without increasing the baking time.

Source: http://annies-eats.com/

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Memorial Day Series – Grandma’s Potato Salad

May 31, 2010 – 12:10 pm

Happy Memorial Day everyone!! I am so thankful to the Lord for the U.S.A. and the precious freedoms we enjoy in the greatest country on earth. I’m also so very thankful to the brave men and women in uniform for their brave and selfless sacrifice.
We are hosting a BBQ today with about 17 adults and 15 children coming over. Our menu will include: bbq chicken, burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans, chips, veggies and fruit, luscious layer bars and red, white and blue cupcakes.


Growing up I was blessed to spend a lot of time with my wonderful grandmother. I have her to thank for a lot of what I know in the kitchen. She was a top notch cook and her most requested dish was her potato salad. I’m not a miracle whip fan but this is the one thing that I agree makes an incredibly delicious potato salad.

3 pounds potatoes, quartered
8 eggs, hard boiled
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1 cup miracle whip salad dressing
1/4 cup mustard
1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
1 T vinegar
2 T milk
1 t celery salt
1/2 t pepper

Boil potatoes until fork tender and cube; place in large bowl. Chop hard boiled eggs and add to potatoes. Salt and pepper warm potatoes and eggs. Add relish.
Combine miracle whip, mustard, vinegar, milk, celery salt and pepper in separate bowl. Pour over potato mixture. You may not need to use all of the dressing.
Chill at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.

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Memorial Day Series – Perfect Baked Beans

May 27, 2010 – 8:18 am

Every Memorial Day barbeque deserves delicious side items. These bakes beans are perfect. I’ve made them lots of times and get numerous compliments each time.

Ingredients

6 slices bacon
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans
1 (16 ounce) can great Northern beans, drained
2 (16 ounce) can baked beans
1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings, crumble and set aside in a large bowl. Cook the onion and garlic in the reserved drippings until onion is tender; drain excess grease and transfer to the bowl with the bacon. To the bacon and onions add all of the beans. Stir in ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and black pepper. Mix well and transfer to a 9×12 inch casserole dish.
Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

* Feel free to switch up the beans to your favorite. As long as the quantity stays the same you can use any mixture of beans you’d like.

Source: Allrecipes.com

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