*Tender Meat Makes Tender Fajitas!*

However, a tough cut of meat won't make juicy, melt in your mouth fajita slices. These will be grilled quickly on the grill or in the oven at a quick-cooking temperature. The meat has to be a tender cut of beef to begin with.

Whole Inside or Outside Skirt Steak; Flank Steak; Hangar Steak; or Flap Steak.

1 Red and 1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded, cut in strips (can use more!) Or jalapenos

1 medium Onion, cut in strips (sweet, red or other) can use more!

Warm Flour or Corn Tortillas

Handful Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Sides and Sauces:

Lime Juice; Guacamole; Sour Cream or Crema; Shredded Cheeses; Pico de Gallo; Salsa; Salsa Verde; Refried Beans; Shredded Lettuce; Avocado slices or other preferences.

Marinade:

2 Limes juiced and chopped; 3 cloves Garlic, diced or crushed; 2 Jalapenos or Serrano Peppers (more or less); 3 Tablespoons Kosher or Sea Salt; 1 teaspoon Sugar; 1/4 teaspoon cumin; 1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (optional); 1 Tablespoon quality Worcestershire Sauce (optional); Handful chopped fresh Cilantro

To prepare marinade: Dice, chop, crush or puree the marinade ingredients, mix well with the the listed liquids. Place whole (or halved) steaks in a plastic zip bag (or airtight container). Pour in marinade, turn steaks to coat on all sides. Massage the marinade into the meat for a minute or two if in a zipbag. Place sealed zipbag in another container as the bags can sometimes leak. Cover and marinate in refrigerator a minimum of two hours. Marinating overnight or for 24 hours gains the greatest developed flavors. Liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce isn't necessary if these will be flame grilled outdoors.

The salt and lime juice in the marinade slightly cures the meat, the rest is for flavors. Can substitute about 1/4 cup lemon juice in place of lime juice, but flavor won't be as good, lime juice is much better, and authentic. The meat will have a translucent sheen once cooked and sliced. This is normal, and due to the curing process.

Next day, preheat oven to 375°f, or oil the grates of a grill, and get the grill hot and ready to cook.

Discard marinade. Allow meat to rest unrefrigerated while slicing the peppers and onions, heating the oven or grill, and getting the tortillas warmed up. (It improves the flavors and texture of the meat if it's cooked when closer to room temperature, rather than cold, straight out of a fridge).

Bake or grill whole flank, skirt or beef steaks until cooked to preferred doneness. Some like fajita meat very well done with a slight char on the outsides. Some like their fajita meat more on the pink side, as it will be pan sizzled with the veggies after slicing, which finishes cooking it. A good rule is to get the internal temperature of the steaks to 145°f to 150°f before slicing.

Remove steaks from heat, allow to rest uncut 15 or so minutes before slicing. That allows the meat to reabsorb it's juices. No sense in those rich juices running out on the cutting board, save the juices for your mouth instead!

Once things are ready, use a sharp straight-edge knife to cut the steaks the size of the tortillas, after that, slice those against the grain into 1/4 to 1/8th inch strips. Tougher cuts of beef will need to be sliced thin.

Pour 4-6 tablespoons oil in a heavy skillet and get hot, (or melt bacon grease for an extra tasty fajita!). When hot, and almost smoking, toss in onions, stir and add the bell peppers and fajita slices.

Don't stir too much, let it get a slight browning before stirring each time. A little char or browning on everything makes the fajitas taste amazing!

When cooked to preference, empty onto a hot platter and serve with warm tortillas and sides. Or do as in restaurants; and serve the sizzling fajitas on a hot iron comal!

Sides are listed above, and there's others than those that might be used. That's just some possibilities.

Other kinds of meat can be used instead of beef. Always check with a probe thermometer that the meat is at 145°f to 150°f internal temp. This will work just as well for pork steaks or pork roast cut into steaks. (Loin chops are too tough!).

A Note On Names: All the listed beef cuts go by different names depending on where you live. Some names are: Arrachera; Bavette; Sirloin Fajita meat or Ranchera steaks.

I don't recommend using tough cuts of meat for fajitas, such as round. If the cut of beef is lean, and requires hours of cooking to tenderize, that's the wrong cut of beef for fajitas. Whatever meat you use, it needs to be very well marbled and *not* from a highly used muscle in the animal. Remember, the hard-working muscles will always be the toughest meat. Such as round, as that cut is from the beef's hindquarters. The south end.