Plain Ole Fajitas

Griffin · March 7

Seems like its been forever since I posted a cook. Sometimes life gets busy and sometimes you are just cooking plain old food that's not worth shooting or talking about. Did some freezer diving and found a package of skirt steak the other night. Was gonna use Fiesta Fajita Rub on them, but the wife asked if we still had some of the William Sonoma Argentine Rub left. Turns out we did, too bad they quit making the stuff cuz now we don't have anymore. :(

Got the large fired up nice and hot, somewhere around the 600-700 range with mesquite chips for smoke and Central Market's Mesquite lump for more. Fajitas just need to be done on mesquite IMHO.

Gave them a coupla minutes and flipped

Couple more minutes and pulled

Last weekend we went to Pappasito's for dinner. One of those nights where you wait to long to figure out what to cook and its just easier to go out. Anyway, we split the Asado Jalisco fajitas which are topped with onions, peppers, mushrooms and jalapeno jack cheese. They were pretty darn tasty and I thought I'd copy the cheese idea and put some on mine. When I pulled them to rest, I topped them and put the lid on hoping it would melt. They didn't, so it got a quick pop in the oven broiler.

Turned out pretty nicely.

Fajitas were good. Quick and simple. We tried out a new recipe for Mexican Green Cilantro Rice. You blend up some jalapenos, onions and cilantro and mix it up with chicken stock and rice. It was ok, just felt like it was missing something. Gonna play with this one till I figure it out because I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican or Spanish rice. This would be a great alternative. Anyway, that was my night. :)

SmokinDAWG82 · March 7

Looks great, Griff you never do anything PLAIN OLE and you know it that's a fine looking Fajita!

Dyal_SC · March 7

Man that looks good! I'm gonna have to steal your idea.

r270ba · March 7

Nice. I am putting this one on the list.

Griffin · March 7

Forgot to mention the cheese was Sargento's Pepper Jack Cheese. With habanero and jalapeno peppers, it packs quite a punch. Hotter than what Pappasito's uses. Think next time, we'll add the onions, mushrooms and peppers under the cheese like they do and see how it turns out.

What bums me out is we used to have 3 of those cast iron fajita dishes with the wooden trays they sit in. Never used them so I gave them away. Wish I would have had them last night. Anybody know how mexican restaurants get them to sizzle and steam when the bring them out to the table? I figure they get them super hot and then pour a bit of liquid on them or something. Might be totally wrong on that one.

Mickey · March 7

Jason when I first looked at that I thought you put a fried egg on top. Boy that could be a good breakfast with a fired egg.

Now what you did is something I will try.....

Jason they sell the wooden trays for the lodge 9" round CI we use on the Mini.....

NibbleMeThis · March 7

I suspect you are right about the splash of maybe watered down lemon juice to get the steam and sizzle. I want one of those fajita serving sets, can't believe you gave them away (to someone other than me, ha ha).

I have never seen fajitas served that way but I like the idea. I might try stealing a trick from short order burger cooks. As soon as I flip the fajitas to side two, top with the cheese then and put some type of lid or bowl over it. You won't get the steam action melting that short order cooks do but it would really reflect the heat top down maybe. I'll try it and probably screw something up :)

Send me some leftovers for lunch, I left mine at home.

r270ba · March 7

Looks like a combination of the heat on the skillet and the juices from the meat and veggies.

Start watching about the 8:50 mark. She said the dish she heated up was a "komo" or something like that...

http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/chicken-fajita-recipe.html

jlsm · March 7

Griff, try adding a little lime juice to the rice. Great cook!

Mickey · March 7

@Griffin and @NibbleMeThis

this is not what I was talking about on the lodge but close

http://www.missionrs.com/g-search.html?q=wooden+plates+for+cast+iron#/?page=3

r270ba · March 7

@mickey might be jumping in on a convo I know nothing about but I found these skillets on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-LFSR3-Pre-Seasoned-Fajita/dp/B00008GKDP/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1IAD5IW4KYVXO&coliid=I1FCE5GPXKYRDD

Just trying to help

Logger · March 7

Griff,
Take a look to see if this is what you're looking for. If so, I'll probably order some too...let me know!

http://www.roaringfortiesrubs.com/online-store/

Solson005 · March 7

Your timing is great, I have spent a little too much time searching the internet the past couple days for the perfect cast iron griddle for my small egg because I want to be able to make tortillas and have fajitas when I go mobile. I think the Lodge 9 ¼" Griddle without a handle is what I'm going with and I will just make my own wood serving platter.

When I worked at a restaurant (not mexican) many moons ago, we served fajitas and had those cast iron skillets live in a corner of the oven until it was time to plate and used the fajita marinade for the "sizzle" usually some form of soy sauce. Since they were in the oven for hours they stay pretty hot.

I will have to give the cheese on top a try. Looks great!

Mickey · March 7

r270ba Thanks, I have not seen these on Amazon. Lots of use with Mini's have the Lodge 9" to use as a griddle on the Mini Woo. The cool thing on this forum is with the base we have, you can find anything several different ways. Thanks

Logger · March 7

Aaaah Crap... Sorry Griff. It looks as if they only ship to Australia.
(should have known since their spice goes well on Kangaroos)

r270ba · March 7

@mickey...I really gotta get me a mini. I have the XL and I can pretty much buy anything and it will fit. I think I probably have the opposite problem as the Mini in trying to find something BIG enough to use. Seems like the Large is what everyone caters too.

Mickey · March 7

@r270ba Lots of the stuff for the Mini is parts and pieces to fit. Where you are "toss it on, it will fit"......

Griffin · March 7

@Mickey - I don't have one of those 9" round CI...yet. Need to get me one.

@NibbleMeThis - I'm trying to rack my brain and figure out who I gave it to. Maybe an Uncle. Need to see if they are using them and if not, can I have them back. I thought about the bowl on top idea as well. Sorry, no leftovers to send your way.

@r270ba - what she is saying is "comal" Common term her in Texas. Flat piece of metal used to cook on. And those are the exact skillets I gave away a few years ago. Found them in the back of a corner cupboard in a rent house we moved into. Looke dlike they were forgotten. Kicking myself that I gave them away. Think there were 3 of them. Too stupid to know what I do now.

SmokeyPitt · March 7

=D> Great looking meal Griffin! I love the idea of the "smothered steak fajitas!".

Aviator · March 7

@Griffin, I have seen those in the Lodge outlet store. They had a pile of them, with wood protectors and the mitts for the handle.

That cheese on top, looks really good. Musta tasted like heaven.

r270ba · March 7

Griffin said:

@r270ba - what she is saying is "comal" Common term her in Texas. Flat piece of metal used to cook on. And those are the exact skillets I gave away a few years ago. Found them in the back of a corner cupboard in a rent house we moved into. Looke dlike they were forgotten. Kicking myself that I gave them away. Think there were 3 of them. Too stupid to know what I do now.

Dang...hope they appreciated it!

lousubcap · March 7

@Griffin-great cook as usual. But here's some info on the Williams-Sonoma Argentine Rub...if you have a store close by give them a call. Here in the Louisville, KY area I called the store to see if they had any (on-line said none to be had) and they had four tins of it. Even though it's $$$, they now have none as I bought them out. Interestingly, the store had no knowledge of it being discontinued and their inventory program indicated they could get more from the warehouse. It will be quite a while before I see if that's truth or fiction. FWIW-

Griffin · March 7

Thanks for the info @lousubcap. I'm not even sure where a WS is by me, although I'm sure my wife does. The rub was sent to my by my brother in law, so no clue on the $$$, although I have heard a lot of their stuff is $$$. Might look into finding some more this weekend.

R2Egg2Q · March 8

"Plain"? Plain good, plain delicious perhaps but nothing "plain ole..." about that meal!

MaskedMarvel · March 8

We have a few fantastic ethnic restaurant supply stores here, including one warehouse that's just opened I have yet to raid. Excuse issued - excuse accepted...

The best TexMex place here hits their fajitas with a squeeze of lime and lemon right before tabling the food to make that steaming sizzle.

Griffin · March 8

jlsm said:

Griff, try adding a little lime juice to the rice. Great cook!

We warmed up some of the rice last night to go with some fish and added some lime juice. It helped, but the recipe I used is still lacking something. Gonna look up more and compare and probably come up with my own.

r270ba · March 8

Please share when you figure it out !

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Plain Ole Fajitas

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