Taco Tuesday

First off I must apologize for taking a week off from posts. I am going to make it up by posting a little extra on particular days. I was preparing for a long trip to Little Rock Arkansas to run a marathon and the blog had to be placed on hold. Last Tuesday I make tequila lime steak fajitas. Fajitas are something that most people love to order when they are out to eat, but rarely make at home. One thing that I love about making something that you have to marinade is that your food is working for you as you are working for yourself, and your family!! In a large freezer bag I dumped half of a lime (juiced), 2 oz of tequila, paprika, cumin, 4 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1/4 of a red onion, salt, pepper, chili powder, half a jalapeno, 1 ancho chili (diced), 1/2 a poblano, some cilantro, and some cayenne. I tossed in a 20 oz top sirloin and allowed it to marinate all day while I was at work.



Once I got home from work I placed the steak and the marinade in the freezer while I prepared the veggies. Fajita veggies can really be anything you want them to be, but traditionally it is just the mixed peppers and onions. Simple, simple, simple!! These veggies were sauteed in some EVOO before being finished off with a little of the marinade. Of course I cooked the marinade and the veggies so that it would kill off any of the meat juices that you would not want to consume raw.



I took the meat out of the freezer and sliced it nice and thin. The freezer helps to firm up the meat so that you can slice it thinner without adding any of your own meat to the mix. When you have sharp knives, which you always should, any good chef can slip and slice their digits!! The meat was sauteed in a hot pan with some EVOO. I made sure not to over cook the meat because I HATE tough fajita meat. Medium-rare is my desired doneness, but for you it might need to be a bit darker.



One key to great fajitas is to heat your tortillas. Toss them in a hot pan with a little butter and heat for about 20 seconds on each side...MONEY!! Also, what are fajitas without some great guac?!!? In my world, every Tuesday should be taco Tuesday!! Fajitas do not have to just be something that you get when you go out to eat on a steaming platter. You can make better fajitas at home. Trust me.

Not Leftovers...Previously Prepared Pieces

I find it funny that in the sales world we talk about "Pre-owned" items rather than used. Many people have an aversion to leftovers, but previously prepared items have a different ring to them. For lunch today I was looking through the fridge trying to decide what I could eat that would be good and get rid of some leftovers. I decided to combine my Philly cheese steak filling with an egg for a little variation of steak and eggs. As the egg was cooking I noticed I had a little salsa that was made for the Super Bowl. Now we have Southwest Steak and Eggs!!



I guess the one thing that kept coming to the front of my mind was that we need to embrace our leftovers. We are living in a tough economy where we cannot afford to be throwing food away. You have gone to so much work preparing food, don't let it go to waste. I know that some people do not like their food to touch on their plate, but this is different. This is a new dish made with previously prepared items. Sure not everything will play nice together, but that is where you need to use discretion. Trial and error will help you yield the best results. Take a gander in that fridge and see what you might be able to combine together to make culinary magic. I think you will be surprised.