Fajitas: Lime-Cilantro Flank Steak & Salsa Verde


To follow-up on last night’s post, here are the recipes you’ll need to make these fajitas.

Fajitas

Not to toot my own horn, or anything, but I was told that these were the BEST fajitas ever.

Grilled Flank Steak (recipe follows – best if you start to marinate the night before)

Salsa Verde (recipe follows)

1 red onion, sliced into strips

1 bell pepper, sliced into strips

1 avocado

8-12 shiitake mushrooms

1 package Artisan-style corn tortillas (I used blue corn tortillas here)

To assemble the fajitas:

  1. Prepare the salsa.
  2. While the salsa is cooking on the stove, grill the flank steak.
  3. Prepare the mushrooms for grilling. Rinse them well and allow to drain a few moments. Then skewer them, drizzle with a little olive oil, and grill.
  4. While the steak and mushrooms are grilling, slice the onions and peppers.
  5. For medium rare steak, cook until about 130 degrees. It is very important that you allow the meat to rest about 10 minutes before slicing. If you slice it too soon, the juices will run out of the meat and it will be dry.
  6. While the meat is resting, cook the onions and peppers in a hot cast iron skillet. You can cook them together, but since I cannot eat bell peppers, we had to cook them separately. You want the onions to caramelize a bit, but not get too soft. The peppers, you’ll want to get a little char on them, but be careful to not overcook them. They can very quickly go from bright, colorful, and tender-crisp to overcooked. Remove from the heat, cover and keep warm.
  7. While the onions and peppers are cooking, cut the avocado into slices or bite-sized chunks.
  8. Heat the tortillas either on the grill or in a cast iron pan.
  9. Thinly slice the meat. Thinly slice the mushrooms.
  10. To assemble your fajitas, place a corn tortilla on a plate, then top with a few slices of the steak, some onions and peppers, mushrooms, avocado, and a generous dollop of salsa.
  11. Chew, savor, smile, swallow, smile, repeat.

Shiitake Mushrooms

Red Onions

Bell Peppers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled Flank Steak with Lime, Cilantro, & Serrano Chili

Marinated Flank Steak

2 limes, freshly squeezed
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of agave nectar
1 large serrano chile pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 pound flank steak
salt and pepper to taste

  1. Whisk together the lime juice, cilantro, agave nectar, and chile pepper in a bowl. If you want more heat, then leave all or part of the serrano seeds. I prefer to seed chiles.
  2. Lightly salt and pepper the flank steak and place into a zipper bag. Pour in the marinade.
  3. Refrigerate and marinade at least a few hours or up to about 24 hours.
  4. Remove from the refrigerator no more than 30 minutes before grilling.
  5. Grill to desired doneness (I like medium rare, at most), which for beef is about 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
  6. Remove from grill and let sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.
  7. Thinly slice against the grain.

Roasting tomatillos, serranos, & onions.

Salsa Verde

1-1/2 pounds of fresh tomatillos
1 bunch green onion
4 (or more) large serrano chile peppers
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste

  1. Husk the tomatillos, rinse well, and set to drain in a colander.
  2. Trim off the root end and about half of the green stem of the onions.
  3. Cut off the stem end of the chile, slice in half length-wise, and scrape out the seeds.
  4. Rinse the cilantro well, drain, and strip the leaves off the stems. Place the leaves on a towel to drain well.
  5. Place the tomatillos, green onions, and serranos in a roasting pan, and drizzle with a little olive oil.
  6. You can roast the tomatillos, green onions, and serranos on a grill or under a broiler. You’ll want to get a bit of char on them for flavor, but not too much.
  7. The tomatillos are ready when they’re softened and a little bit charred. Remove from the grill or oven and set aside to cool a bit. You don’t want to try to process them while they’re piping hot. I destroyed a blender one time by not waiting. It was a very sad and expensive culinary discovery that my KitchenAid blender was no match for piping hot tomatillos. It melted the base! Very sad, indeed.
  8. For this amount of salsa, you’ll want to blend it in 3-4 batches. It doesn’t really have to be evenly distributed per batch at this point because it’s all going to end up in one skillet to cook.
  9. Cook on medium-high heat until the mixture begins to bubble, then reduce the heat to low. You’ll want to stir frequently to avoid scorching the bottom. I cook it until it’s slightly thickened, but still a pretty green color. The color will vary a lot from batch to batch due to the natural variation in tomatillos, how much char you have on them, and how long you cook the sauce.
  10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This salsa is really easy and incredibly good either hot or cold. I love it on grilled chicken, carnitas, with rice, with tortilla chips, on eggs … it is am incredibly versatile sauce.

My fajitas, no bell peppers!

The Final Product!

 

 

 

 

One Response to “Fajitas: Lime-Cilantro Flank Steak & Salsa Verde”

  1. Cycling Foodie » Blog Archive » Pre-Ride Breakfast Says:

    […] Top the warm tortillas with a little cheddar cheese and leave on the griddle on low. Warm some salsa verde, either in the microwave or on the stove on low heat. Fry two eggs to your desired doneness. Top […]

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