Sirloin and Onions por los amigos.

It’s days like this that make kitchen failures all worthwhile. Experimenting with a recipe and having something come out ho-hum, then going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new battle plan and ending up with a dish that is really wonderful, using the same ingredients, but just a different technique. Such was the case today with my sizzlin’ steak fajitas with onions and roasted chiles; served alongside some nice Maize in a garlic and chile infused butter.

I switched from rubbing the steak with chile powder to a marinade of Worcestershire, white wine, and spices. I think this is a better move because the meat is so thin and cooks so fast, having flavor already inside the meat from the liquid helps a lot. Also, not dousing the meat in powder means there’s more direct contact with the meat and pan, so it makes for a better sear.

With the onions, caramelization was out for this dish. I wanted them done hot and fast! This would let them cook a little bit, but would prevent them from developing an over-sweet character. For the peppers, I didn’t want to use big honkin’ chunks of bell pepper, but I didn’t want to sear my mouth off from a habanero either. My solution? To roast a red chile and a jalapeno, then remove the skin, seeds, and inner membrane with a paring knife so sharp it could be used as a surgical implement. This way it let the fruity essences of the pepper come out, while removing a lot of the outright heat. Plus it gave the dish some nice “tex mex” colors.

Half the fun of fajitas is the fireworks when the meat hits the pan. That strong, fast sizzle could only be more grand with the 1812 overture playing in the background. It’s the unmistakable sound of “something’s cookin’!” It took less than a minute to cook the meat, and the whole dish came together in about 5 minutes once I started cooking.

Now for serving, there was a dilemma. Every fajita I’ve ever had has come with two things. First they come on an insulated iron plate that is sizzling violently.
Secondly, they always came with a Mexican waiter who would warn me that said smoking, sizzling, steaming plate was very hot.” Having neither of these two essential items, and thinking better of placing a rocket-hot cast iron fry pan onto my table, I elected to plate them up on a warmed flour tortilla, lightly buttered, served alongside my chile-buttered maize.

Speaking of Maize, I’m trying to use that word instead of “corn” simply because I understand that the entire rest of the population of the world calls it maize, or masa, and I’m just international that way. Plus Maize sounds more exotic, like I’ve “done something” to the corn using super-secret-jedi-master-chef skills. Really I’m a minimalist when it comes to cooking maize. For me, the biggest part of the dish is the sauce, which is nothing more than some chile peppers and garlic steeped in a little butter. I boiled the corn only long enough to warm it through, then tossed it with the spicy garlicky goodness and served it next to my fajitas, garnished with a little cheese and fresh cilantro.

These might just be the best fajitas I’ve ever had! The fruitiness of the roasted chiles had a bit of spice left in them, but it certainly was not overpowering. Roasting them first was a good call because it took off the waxy skin and made for an almost velvety texture. The heat itself was offset a little from the saltiness of the meat, which was just enough to add flavor to the meal, but was not overpowering. The onions gave everything a nice pleasant crunch, and had cooked down just enough so that they began to get traces of sweetness, but still had some nice bite to them.

All this combined with the chile-garlic buttered maize made for a well-tied together dish. It was such an improvement over the chile-rubbed ho-humness of a few days past. I served it up with a frosty Sam Adams Pils beer, now that’s what I call good eating!

486 to go!