GREAT fajitas from Austin Texas

Village Idiot

I have never been pleased with any marinade for fajitas. Recently, I stumbled on Matt Martinez's recipe for fajitas that requires no marinating and is excellent. Matt owns Matt's El Rancho Tex-Mex Restaurant in Austin. It is probably the most popular Tex-Mex restaurant in town.

Flap steak (or skirt steak) with Texas Sprinkle (recipe follows) on it, bell peppers, and onions, Black Magic Finishing Sauce (recipe follows).



Next, grill the steak. I like to throw it directly on the coals for a minute and flip it to the other side. Then, finish cooking on the grid.



Set the steak aside, and saute the bell pepper and onion in a little olive oil



Put the steak in the skillet and drizzle some Black Magic Finishing Sauce. Toss around for 30 or so seconds.



Dish it up



Enjoy with your favorite margarita.




Texas Sprinkle Good on meat, chicken and seafood. Use 3 teaspoons per 4 ounces.

4 tablespoons cracker meal or finely ground unflavored bread crumbs
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons coarsely ground pepper

Black Magic Finishing Sauce Believe it or not, the combination loses the identity of each of the ingredients, and only enhances the flavor of the meat.

1 bottle (10 ounces) Kikkoman light soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup dry red wine

I hope you try it.

cookn biker

Gary, Looks really tasty and healthy!!
Thanks for sharing the recipies!

Mickey

Gary Matt's is good. Have to try your discovery.
THanks

loco_engr

I'm down on the Black Magic Finishing Sauce!

Thanks!

2Fategghead

Thanks Gary I gotta give this a try. Tim

Village Idiot

Thanks Molly. Next time, I'm going to finish off the meat with the dome down to get more mesquite smoke flavor in it.

Village Idiot

Yeah. I've always liked the restaurant. Almost as good as Los Tios in Houston. :laugh:

Village Idiot

I hope you enjoy it, Loco. I'm going to put it on chicken next time. I bet it's good on lots of meats. The recipe says it will keep for a long time in the refrigerator, so put the batch in a wine bottle and cork it up for several uses.

Village Idiot

I don't think you'll be disappointed, Tim. Let me know how it goes.

elzbth

Looks pretty good to me!!

Village Idiot

Thanks, Elizabeth !

Florida Grillin Girl

Hmmm, I have never heard of bread crumbs on fajita meat. But then, I haven't spent alot of time in TEXAS.
The finishing sauce sounds good. I would like to give this a try.

Village Idiot

Faith,

I'm betting that the bread crumbs are just a diluter to the sprinkle and is inert ... just guessing though. If you try it, I hope you like it.

ResQue

That looks fantastic. Now I know what to make on saturday along with some homemade flour tortillas. Thanks for the post.

JLOCKHART29

Looks and sounds great! And thanks for the recipe. Wish you had taken a pic of meat on the coals though. Freaks a lot of the newbies out!! :laugh:

Beli

Beautiful Gary...just beautiful....I know the taste is there my mother used to make something similar....

asianflava

I always liked the pre marinaded meats from HEB, the beef and chicken thighs were best. Never went to Matt's ElRancho since it was on the other side of town, but I went to the one in the airport.

Village Idiot

Let me know how you like it Aaron. I hope you do.

Village Idiot

:laugh: :laugh: Yeah, it freaks my wife out too.

Village Idiot

From what I've seen out of you, I bet your mom was a great cook.

Village Idiot

I haven't tried HEB's marinade, but in general, I think marinades mask the meat flavor ... at least with fajitas.

ResQue

I'll let you know. I meant to ask another question. Does he use the same spices/sauce for shrimp and chicken also?

eenie meenie

Gary, I've got to try a little of your Black Magic. Love the name. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Almost, but not quite as good as Moose Butt!

Village Idiot

Aaron,

He uses the Texas Sprinkle and the Black Magic in veggies, beef, chicken, and shrimp. I'm new to this too, but you can bet I'm going to try it on all of the above.

Village Idiot

eenie meenie wrote:

Almost, but not quite as good as Moose Butt!

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: What can I say?

ResQue

I hear you. I think I'll try all of them too.

kmellecker

Looks like some of that Texas Mexican food you were comparing to So Cal the other day. Looks mighty appetizing. Thanks for including the recipe, you can bet I am going to try it.

Mr Holloway

Nice looking meal. The Black Magic sounds good, will have to try

Hustling Hare

Another thing floating around Texas (Central Mkt for one) is to slice sirloin about 1/2 in or a little less and cook it as fajitas. Costs more than skirt but it tenderer. I've been told that many restaurants are going this route.

I've tried it and it's delicious.

HH

2Fategghead

Darn Gary what happened to your pic's? Tim :(