Fajita Round up, JB's Beef and Chcken Recipe- Tequila & lime

Here is my full proof recipe that is not as complicated as one might think. There are some tricks to preparing this dish and shortcuts will not do here. Mexican \ Tex Mex is probably my favorite of all dishes because there is no limit really to what one can do, and a great way to entertain guest.

Here are the ingredients you will need for the Fajita seasoning, and Jim’s Baugh Ha Salsa.

Fajita seasoning:

Garlic powder

Chili Powder

Celery Salt

Crushed Red Pepper

Black Pepper

Sea Salt

Cumin

Brown Sugar

Four limes (used in marinating the meat)

White Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Now, you can buy fajita marinade and doctor it up a bit if you like. I usually will make mine in bulk and just store for later use. Mix all ingredients and use to powder your selected meats.

Baugh Ha Salsa:

2 #10 cans tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1\2 cup crushed red pepper

one minced bunch of parsley

one squeezed lemon

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1\2 red wine vinegar

1\2 cup soy oil

one bunch of cilantro

one large yellow onion

three large cloves of elephant garlic

two cups water

NOTE: This recipe is a slight variation of the famous Border Salsa from the Border Café in Richmond Virginia. Now closed, but once a thriving fan district joint that we all loved. It took me years to get this recipe, and only got it after they closed. The origin of this salsa came from a taco stand in southern California over thirty years ago.

In a food processor whip up the parsley, garlic and cilantro. Pour all tomatoes and sauce into a large mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients. Let chill overnight then let stand to room temperature for serving.

Preparing the beef and chicken.

You will need the fajita seasoning

Three shots of tequila

Three green peppers

Two jalapeno peppers

Large onion

One shot of grand mariner and the two limes

MOST IMPORTANT!!

Cut your meat SMALL!!! This creates more surface area for marinade and also aids in tenderization of the meat. DO NOT HAVE LARGE CHUNKS OF MEAT!! You want to cut it almost as small as if you were doing a stir-fry, which in essence, that is what you are doing.

Place meat in a bowl; add your fajita seasoning as well as chopped jalapenos, the tequila and grand mariner. Then cut and squeeze the juice of four limes into the bowl, stir and refrigerate overnight.

To Cook




Caramelize and char the meat and veggies.
Cast iron is the best way to do this

 

Heat a large well seasoned cast iron skillet until the center turns a little white, then splash with a shot of vegetable oil. Immediately put in you meat and begin to stir-fry. You will want to press the meats down onto the skillet to caramelize then and it will also produce a nice char on the pieces of meat. This is what you want. Once the meat is 3\4 done, add sliced onion and peppers into the mix, stir until veggies and meats get a nice char on them.

You will want to have all your sides done before you start cooking the meats. Here is a tip, you don’t need much, not even cut tomatoes. The salsa takes care of that. The more simple you make this dish, the more elegant and tasty it becomes. The meats have so much flavor, you really don’t need much else.

Be sure towel is very damp, set at 200 degree oven

To serve, use heated corn tortillas, NOT FLOUR!! Heat them in a wetted towel in the oven or microwave.

NOTE: Flour tortillas are fine if they are homemade and very thin. We have always made homemade tortillas and love them. They are worth the extra trouble, but do NOT use store bought tortillas, only corn. HUGE Difference.

Place corn tortillas on a plate, serve meat straight from the sizzling cast iron skillet onto the corn tortilla, top with a little of your favorite cheese, cheddar and Monterey jack is great, top off with some Baugh Ha Salsa.

Now you have got it!! For sides, fresh lettuce, sour cream and fresh sliced avocado is always good. Just be careful not to load up on to much of that stuff. Just the fajita with the cheese and salsa is about the best way to go, you can really taste the great flavors, not covering them up with a lot of other stuff.

Once you get this recipe down, it is very easy to change things up a bit, adding fresh shrimp to the meat mix is a very good thing to do. Bottom line is that this is all really a very easy recipe to do and takes little time to prepare for your guest. I usually will set up all the sides buffet style and serve the fajitas fresh out of the skillet for each guest. You do want that meat to be sizzling hot as it hits the corn tortilla. You don’t want to be serving luke warm fajita meat.

Cheers!

Jim Baugh

JBO TV

Author of “HOOKED”