Fajitas!

Happy Nueve de Mayo!

Okay, yeah, I wrote this post and then completely forgot to publish it. It's been that kind of week! So much stuff to do so little time.

Just wait till you have children in elementary school and your entire month of May becomes a hectic schedule of activities that involve "making memories" for your children. Field Day, field trips, recognition ceremonies, teacher appreciation activities, choir concerts, band concerts, orchestra concerts, talent shows, and picnics are all I'm doing. But remember to not offend your family, friends and coworkers by not showing up to their or their children's graduation party, honor ceremony, deployment party, or welcome home gathering.

Oh and baseball and soccer . . . and . . . church . . . we haven't even mentioned church!

Repeat after me. "My name is Mud. My name is Mud. My name is Mud."

Can you really plan and schedule and record "memories?" I have lovely memories from childhood. Like the time my mother knocked her ice tea over and it fell in her purse. We teased her about having ice tea in her purse for 25 years! Seriously, whenever we were out and anybody was thirsty we'd say "Ask Mom, she's got tea in her purse!"

Anyway, lets cook something simple and satisfying today okay? It's a hot week so let's break out the grill and make some steak fajitas! As Speedy Gonzales used to say "Undele! Undele! Arriba! Arriba!"

I love a good steak fajita don't you? I hardly ever make them though unless we're camping.

What? You don't make fajitas when you're camping?

You gotta bring a little civilization into it people!

Besides, you cook everything on the grill for fajitas so it's perfect camping food. Isn't it?

Let's get grilling!

So, sirloin was on sale. It's usually a sort of tough steak but it'll be perfect for our fajitas.

See how the muscle goes across the meat? When I cut up the steak I can cut it across the grain. That will make for tender bites. Flank steak is also wonderful for this but it's so pricey! Save the flank for guests.

Yes, I'm opening up a packet of taco seasoning. You don't expect me to take the spice cabinet camping do you?

You want to mix it with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

The juice of half a lime will help tenderize the meat too! Then stir it all together into a thick paste.

I like to poke the steak with a fork a little first. To help the marinade get in . . . and it breaks up the fibers a little too.

Pour it on and rub it in! Let it sit for 30 minutes or so. This is a good time to light the charcoal!

Now for some vegetables! I like bell pepper. Red is delicious but green will do too!

Green onions are delightful when grilled! Red onion is more traditional though. I say use what you've got!

A little vegetable oil, salt and pepper is all the veggies need. The oil helps them not stick to the grill. It also attracts the flames.

Coals are ready! Let's get the onions going. I tend to do my vegetables first because my family likes them really tender. When they start to get black marks move them to the cooler side of the grill. They'll steam a little over there.

Now for some peppers. I've been throwing some jalapenos on lately. My husband loves the heat! Leave them until they start to get beautiful black marks.

Put the onions on a plate. Move the peppers to the cool side of the grill. Throw the meat on! I don't wipe it off or anything. The spice rub turns delicious on the grill!

Flip them over! How done do you like your steaks? Lean meat like this really prefers medium or medium-rare. I cooked them about 3 minutes a side over some serious heat.

Let the meat rest for 5-6 minutes while you load up the table with sour cream, cheese, some black bean salad etc. Then slice it up. It's perfect! It's a miracle!

With beans and rice you've got a colorful meal.

The meat was so tender and beefy! The spice paste adds that bit of salty, citrusy, cuminy, flavor that makes it latin but lets the steak stand out as the star. The vegetable's have a lovely sweetness and char to them that makes everything complete! It's a fiesta for your mouth!

Steak Fajitas

1 1/2 lb sirloin or flank steak
1 1 oz. packet taco seasoning
2 Tbsp. olive oil
juice from 1/2 a lime
1 bell pepper, quartered and seeds removed
1 big bunch of green onions, roots and tops trimmed
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
salt and pepper

garnish
shredded cheese
salsa
cilantro
sour cream


Mix taco seasoning, lime juice and olive oil to form a paste. Poke steak with a fork and spread spice paste over meat. Let sit for 30-60 minutes. Dress bell pepper and green onion with vegetable oil and salt and pepper to taste. Grill vegetables over high heat until lightly charred. Remove. Grill steak 3-5 minutes per side. Let steak rest 5-6 minutes before slicing across the grain. Serve on warm tortillas.

Pintos!

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:Reynaldo

Mmmm, PINTOS!

Wait that's not the pinto I'm talking about!

Here we go!

Oh wait . . . no . . . not that one either!

There they are!

Were you confused?

Just wanted to let you walk in my shoes for a moment!

This is by FAR! My easiest recipe EVER!

I make these everytime I serve Mexican food. My friends say "Oh my! What is in these beans?" Well I've gotta tell you there's almost nothing in these beans! I always try to make too many because they freeze fabulous!

Are you ready for deliciousness?

Can you HANDLE the deliciousness?

Take two pounds of plain dried pinto beans.

Pour them into a collander looking for any weird things. Beans are a "natural agricultural product" you know! Says so right on the package. What they mean is beans grow around DIRT and BUGS and STONES. They highly recommend you examine them carefully. I agree!

I "picked" the beans with my father from the time I was old enough to sit on the counter and look through them! We never found anything in them other than a few genetic abnormalities. Maybe the odd dried kidney bean might get into the great northerns. You know, nothing that'd hurt you! Well as a young woman, off on my own, one day I decided I wasn't going to mess around with this silly bean "picking" business! There were floors to vacuum, shelves to dust, laundry to fold! I had no time for bean picking! As I was carelessly rinsing my beans, I was looking at those floors, shelves, and laundry and thinking of my father.

Had Dad ever told me wrong?

No.
.
I could hear him in my head "Use the FORCE Luke!"
.
Actually it was more like "You'd BETTER pick those beans GIRL!"
.
So rather than vacuum, dust, or fold I spent a minute picking through the beans.
.
Of course, there was a stone that day!
.
My first stone! After 17 years!
.
So, knowing I had saved my little family I happily ignored the vacuum, the dust, and the laundry! It became a pattern for me . . .

BACK TO THE BEANS!

Just a few freaks in the bunch today. I pick them out because it gives me purpose. We all need purpose!

Give them a good washing under some nice cold tap water.

Into a crockpot they go! Crockpots cook beans so gently!

Add 8 cups of water.

Slice up about 4 cloves of peeled garlic! I like to see the little pieces of garlic floating amongst the beans.

You'll need a beautiful, fragrant bay leaf! These ones are wonderfully strong. I used to suck on the bay leaves my father pulled out of his soups and stews. These will zing your tongue if you try to suck on them even after hours in the pot. Can you grow Laurel Bay trees in Missouri? Anyhow, throw the bay leaf in the pot.

Two teaspoons of wonderful oregano goes in too!

Now some of you may be wondering what cuisine I'm making here! Trust me the oregano and bay are beautiful in here. They compliment the beans in wonderful ways. There's quite a bit of oregano used in Mexican cooking. There's is even a different type of oregano called "mexican" oregano. I get the turkish though because it works well in Mexican, Italian, and of course Greek. Can you shout OOMPA? Evidently it HAS to be shouted.

One big old tablespoon of salt is needed too! I started with a tablespoon today and actually ended up using more!

If the thought of that much salt scares you try this experiment. Before you dump the 8 cups of water into the pot, mix in a tablespoon of salt. Taste it. Your beans are never going to be as salty as this liquid is. In fact that salt water has to season the beans too. Now if you like a bunch of "condiments" in your beans then hold back a little. We all have different salt tolerances so go with your gut. Salt is cheap. There's no high blood pressure in my family so I use it liberally! You want to end up with a product as salty as a nice chicken broth would be.

Now put a lid on it. I actually found my pot could tolerate a couple of more cups of water so I added a little more. There is two pounds of beans to hydrate there!

Throw the lid on it and let it cook!

I cooked mine on high and they boiled over. But they were done in under 4 hours! I've quite often started these before bedtime and cooked them on low all night. Do you want beans for breakfast? You could just as easily put them on low and cook them while you were at work. They'd get done.

Oh look at them! Since mine boiled over I had to add a little water back to them. No problemo!

Yes they're done! It's the end of the recipe! I know, I know, you've come to expect at least 10 ingredients and 15 steps from me! You don't even have to stir this stuff!

The beans are super creamy and the skins seem to meld with them. I think it's from cooking them in salted water. It changes them. The broth is herbaceous, garlicky and has a pleasant saltiness to it. It also has body to it. It slides around the tongue a little and feels rich.

How delicious is this stuff? I spilt a little bit on my shirt and the cat came up and sniffed it. Then he licked it. Then he licked it again. Then he started to chew on my shirt! What can I say? He's got gourmet taste!

This starts out as a soup but there's a dozen uses for it. You can put the beans inside tacos or burritos. Put them on nachos. They're a lovely side. You can puree them with the broth and make a nice bean dip. We like them with a little sour cream and fresh cilantro on them! A squeeze of lime would be fine too. I always make a ton and freeze the extras in quart containers. We're ready for taco night anytime!

Pinto soup

2 lbs dried pinto beans, washed and picked
8-10 cups water
2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp salt

Dump everything in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Garnish with any of the following:

cilantro leaves
sour cream
plain yogurt
sliced green onion
shredded cheese
salsa
chopped tomatoes
lime wedges
black olives
hot sauce
sliced jalapeno pickles
tortilla strips

Carnitas!

Tired of the old "ground meat" tacos and nachos? Try some slow cooked pork, it'll float your boat!

Last sunday we had half a dozen "fun" activities planned for our day of rest! Shameful I know. So I decided dinner should definitely be something easy and relaxed!

I had all these thoughts before 7:00 am.

What have I become?

So, I thought . . . crockpot.

I thought . . . pork roast. Some leftover enchilada sauce caught my eye too! So I brought it along for the ride.

Mexican it is! I had just been to Jose Pepper's the other night. While I had happily munched my fish taco my girlfriend had enjoyed a taco el carbon. I wanted a meaty taco. Carnitas!

I sliced up a yellow onion.

Threw it in the pot.

In goes my pork roast, it's frozen solid. Center cut pork loin is my favorite for the crockpot! 

Look! I found our friend chopped green pepper in the freezer too!

In it goes!

Green pepper is one of those special vegetables that you can just chop up and throw in the freezer. So whenever you find them on sale go ahead and buy them! My daddy put a little bell pepper in everything! It was a delicious habit of his.

Now if you don't have two cups of homemade enchilada sauce in your freezer let's just stay calm. I hear you can actually buy it in cans at the grocery store! It's a little bland though. If you really enjoy your canned enchilada sauce then use it like it is. I would add a couple of tablespoons of chili powder to it. I would probably add a chopped up chipotle pepper to it too. . . and maybe a teaspoon of salt too. You are trying to season an entire pork roast! But that's just me . . . I like things spicy and strong! You want a couple of cups of whatever you decide to use.

Throw it all in the pot!

Now my crockpot gets pretty hot and my roast was pretty darn cold, -10 F. I was coming back at noon so I just set it to low. You can crack a pot if you get too big a temperature difference! Especially these ones made when I was 6! It's like 20 years old for Pete's sake . . .

Put a lid on it.

Now after church I came home and it was all thawed out. I turned it up to high to get it bubbling and on its way. If I had had a nicely thawed out roast in the morning I could of cut it into 2 inch chunks put on my thawed or canned sauce and set it on low and forgot it until dinner time.

Oh look at you!

Are you wondering about all the liquid it's swimming in? That's the juices from the meat, onion, and peppers. Excess liquid and excess fat are the curses of crockpot cooking. Nothing boils off and nothing drains off! Remember that when you're trying to convert a recipe.

Your dinner is done when you can reach in with some tongs and break it up into pieces.

I had mine on nachos!

It was so tender and delicious and spicy and tangy!

Darling daughter had hers in a taco!

What's nice about this stuff is you can take the leftovers and add some beans, rice and cheese to make a nice burrito filling. Roll them up and put them in the freezer for when those teenage boys get hungry!


Pork Carnitas

2 or 2 1/2 lb center cut pork loin
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 green bell pepper, cored and sliced
2 cups enchilada sauce (the 14 oz can will be fine)
1 canned chipotle pepper, chopped up
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2-1 tsp of salt


Place meat and vegetables in crockpot. Taste enchilada sauce to see if you'd like to add chili powder, chipotle pepper, or salt. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred and enjoy!