Edit, May 2024: I have begun including sliced mushrooms as part of the veggie bill for this recipe. New text is in red font below.
Introduction
Decades ago, my mother Rita came up with an outstanding recipe for fajitas that won over the hearts and minds of all our southern California-bred family (including one cousin who proudly proclaimed himself a "connoisseur of fajitas"), and Rita's Fajitas went down in history as part of the lore of her voluminous wonderful cooking. I've tried to emulate them now and again in the ensuing years, but never came close, until recently. I drew on a variety of sources (notably Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman) for input, and came up with this procedure.
Overview
My approach is to use a little over 1 pound (~500g) of leftover picanha initially prepared via sous vide que: 18 hours sous vide at 131F/55C followed by searing over raging hot GrillGrates on the gasser. Vac-sealed leftover meat is reheated with sous vide, sliced, and combined with marinated veggies quickly sauteed and loaded with fixins on large flour tortillas. A key to the success of this recipe is NOT cooking the meat together with the veggies as is traditionally done. I'm such a deviant.
Makes or Serves
Four large fajitas, a meal for two hungry people. Scale up as needed.
Takes (how long)
Prep time: 3 hours (marinating veggies while using sous vide to reheat the leftover meat; does not include time to cook it initially)
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serve with
Fixins: Shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa. If you have them: diced, roasted (preferably Hatch) green chile
Special tools
Use beef you have previously prepared, e.g. sous vide que, smoker, grill. Cuts include flank, picanha, tri tip, strip steak
Vacuum sealer to package the leftover meat
Sous vide machine to reheat the vac-sealed leftover meat
Wok or tall-sided pan
Ingredients
~1 lb/500g of leftover beef as described under "Special Tools", reheated sous vide & sliced into strips
2-3 bell peppers: some combination of red, green, yellow, orange
1 small-medium red onion
1 small-medium sweet onion
Several mushrooms, sliced
4 large flour tortillas
~2 tbsp/30ml high smoke-point cooking oil (e.g. canola)
Marinade for veggies:
1/4 cup/60ml EVOO
Juice of half a lime
1 tbsp/15ml Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp/5ml low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves' worth of minced garlic
1 tsp/5ml kosher salt
1/2 tsp/2.5ml coarse black pepper
1 tsp/5ml white sugar
1 tsp/5ml cumin
2 tsp/10ml red chile powder (Hatch if you have it)
Method
Slice peppers and onions, halve slices
Combine marinade ingredients
Coat/toss sliced veggies in marinade, about three hours covered in the fridge
Meanwhile, heat up meat in sous vide to 125F/52C (2 hours or so), then slice meat into suitably sized strips
First saute the sliced mushrooms in a glug of EVOO until they've liberated their water and start to brown.
Then add the marinated veggies and saute over medium-high heat
When veggies are partially translucent but still firm, add meat, stir constantly, no more than 3-5 min, which should heat the meat through and raise its temp back up to ~130F/55C
Have all the fixins laid out and ready to go
Heat the flour tortillas, load 'em up, and serve. I use the microwave because it's so fast and makes it much easier for everything to be hot and ready to plate at once.
I know Rita would have thoroughly approved.
Introduction
Decades ago, my mother Rita came up with an outstanding recipe for fajitas that won over the hearts and minds of all our southern California-bred family (including one cousin who proudly proclaimed himself a "connoisseur of fajitas"), and Rita's Fajitas went down in history as part of the lore of her voluminous wonderful cooking. I've tried to emulate them now and again in the ensuing years, but never came close, until recently. I drew on a variety of sources (notably Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman) for input, and came up with this procedure.
Overview
My approach is to use a little over 1 pound (~500g) of leftover picanha initially prepared via sous vide que: 18 hours sous vide at 131F/55C followed by searing over raging hot GrillGrates on the gasser. Vac-sealed leftover meat is reheated with sous vide, sliced, and combined with marinated veggies quickly sauteed and loaded with fixins on large flour tortillas. A key to the success of this recipe is NOT cooking the meat together with the veggies as is traditionally done. I'm such a deviant.
Makes or Serves
Four large fajitas, a meal for two hungry people. Scale up as needed.
Takes (how long)
Prep time: 3 hours (marinating veggies while using sous vide to reheat the leftover meat; does not include time to cook it initially)
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serve with
Fixins: Shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa. If you have them: diced, roasted (preferably Hatch) green chile
Special tools
Use beef you have previously prepared, e.g. sous vide que, smoker, grill. Cuts include flank, picanha, tri tip, strip steak
Vacuum sealer to package the leftover meat
Sous vide machine to reheat the vac-sealed leftover meat
Wok or tall-sided pan
Ingredients
~1 lb/500g of leftover beef as described under "Special Tools", reheated sous vide & sliced into strips
2-3 bell peppers: some combination of red, green, yellow, orange
1 small-medium red onion
1 small-medium sweet onion
Several mushrooms, sliced
4 large flour tortillas
~2 tbsp/30ml high smoke-point cooking oil (e.g. canola)
Marinade for veggies:
1/4 cup/60ml EVOO
Juice of half a lime
1 tbsp/15ml Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp/5ml low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves' worth of minced garlic
1 tsp/5ml kosher salt
1/2 tsp/2.5ml coarse black pepper
1 tsp/5ml white sugar
1 tsp/5ml cumin
2 tsp/10ml red chile powder (Hatch if you have it)
Method
Slice peppers and onions, halve slices
Combine marinade ingredients
Coat/toss sliced veggies in marinade, about three hours covered in the fridge
Meanwhile, heat up meat in sous vide to 125F/52C (2 hours or so), then slice meat into suitably sized strips
First saute the sliced mushrooms in a glug of EVOO until they've liberated their water and start to brown.
Then add the marinated veggies and saute over medium-high heat
When veggies are partially translucent but still firm, add meat, stir constantly, no more than 3-5 min, which should heat the meat through and raise its temp back up to ~130F/55C
Have all the fixins laid out and ready to go
Heat the flour tortillas, load 'em up, and serve. I use the microwave because it's so fast and makes it much easier for everything to be hot and ready to plate at once.
I know Rita would have thoroughly approved.
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