Intro
i’ve been attending a monthly potluck since october. the habitat girls before liz’s generation of habitat hoodrats have kindly invited me to their potluck parties, which are usually filled with (1) good will and (2) cheer and (3) lots of girls going awww!! and (4) group therapy over failed relationships and (5) many girls in a room all attempting to talk over each other. not that i have any particular problem with that, and the group is not as girly as i make them out to be, but a roomful of girls you don’t know well can be intimidating and a little overwhelming at times. i think the outings are growing on me though. also, the potlucks involve delicious foods and wines, which i can’t really complain about.
with the stress of trying to make something actually good (meaning, i have to at least not be ashamed to share it with others) still lingering from last time, i decided to go with something relatively easy: steak fajitas. i would buy tortillas and cheese and cook the marinated beef mix. and mash up some avocados for guacamole. easy, right? right!
Recipe
Steak Fajitas
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp hot sauce or more to taste
1/4 tsp group black pepper, plus more for seasoning
12 oz flank steak slices
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
8 tortillas
Guacamole
2 ripe hass avocados, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup diced canned tomato
2 cloves garlic, minced (NOT RECOMMENDED)
1 large or 2 small limes, juiced
2 tablespoons torn or chopped fresh cilantro leaves
salt
Steps
1. In a shallow dish, whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, corn syrup, hot sauce, and pepper. Add steak, bell peppers and onion and toss to coat. Cook immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
fajita prep time
comment: any recipe that involves marinating meats (which is an alliterative mm) is usually a good one in my book, though i thought the soy sauce was an interesting choice for a steak fajita marinade (OHHH, did i mix up the ingredients in my crab soup dumplings recipe?). i can say now that the soy sauce might have been a little too much. i might try to include a little more red wine vinegar than soy sauce next time, if i do make this again. as for the preparation, it was very simple. i only wish that i cut veggies and meats faster.
i really don’t mind cooking as long as i’ve already got the ingredients in house. i live two blocks away from the supermarket, but that supermarket is also across the street from papalote, which is my go-to to-go restaurant when I’m too lazy to cook (see: most of the time), and they’ve won me over with a number of their dishes, including their breakfast burrito and their prawn burrito. liz, you WILL try this when you come visit us, i mean, your parents, in a few weeks.
yes, that store across the street is the supermarket.
2. Set a large nonstick skillet or stove-top grill pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and add steak and vegetables, with the marinade. Saute 5 to 7 minutes, until vegetables are tender-crisp. Transfer mixture to a serving platter. Meanwhile, warm tortillas in the microwave or according to package directions.
usually less meat and more veggies
comment: this is a pretty self-explanatory and simple step. saute until veggies are crisp and then serve! they say to add the marinade while you are cooking the mix, but like i mentioned earlier, i would be conservative because the soy sauce can be a little much.
3. To make the guacamole, in a zip-top bag or medium bowl, mash avocado lightly. Then add tomato, garlic (don’t add garlic!), lime juice and cilantro and combine. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
comment: guacamole time! if it hasn’t been clear in the two subliminal messages in this post, don’t add garlic! i don’t know why this recipe calls for it, and i really should have thought about it before i went ahead and added it, but since i trust all online recipes (am currently re-thinking this philosophy), i went ahead and did it. bad idea. baaaaad idea, food network! y’alls made a mistake there. the garlic takes away the taste of anything else in the guacamole, thus ruining it completely. oh yeah, and canned tomatoes didn’t really go over so well either. i was too ashamed of this, so i didn’t bring it to the party. i am also too ashamed to show the picture.
Summary
Stars: 3 out of 5 stars. a very average recipe. though it was very easy to make, the taste was not very over- or under-whelming.
Alterations: it might be a good idea to actually marinate the mixture for less time (i marinated for about 24 hours), or to make the soy sauce/red wine vinegar mixture less soy saucy. and no garlic in the guacamole.
Recommended?: it was very simple and easy to make, but i wouldn’t make this to impress anyone.
