Fajitas - Texas Style

Day 4 of Foods and Flavors of San Antonio.



Two of the best Tex-Mex recipes can be found in Gloria Chadwick's new cookbook, "Foods and Flavors of San Antonio". I'm talking about FAJITAS of course. If you haven't tried these delicious bits of savory, sizzling meat you're mising out my friends.

Whenever out-of-town friends and family come to visit, one of their first requests is to either go to a restaurant and order this delicious dish or Bob and I end up making them for a special dinner for them.

Fajitas are a Texas creation. There is a fellow foodie, Sonny Falcon, who is credited with having concocted this wonderful BBQ dish. He is better known as the Fajita King of Texas.

"Sonny Falcon is believed to have operated the first commercial fajita taco stand at a weeklong outdoor event in Kyle, Texas in 1969. He also went to rodeos, fairs, and outdoor festivals selling his fajita taco. An Austin reporter christened him "The Fajita King" and Falcon was able to trademark the name". To read more about the fajita king, click here.

You can't go wrong with Texas-style fajitas. While some "purists" still insist that true fajitas are made only with "skirt-steak", wonderful recipes have evolved using other cuts of beef such as flank and, of course, chicken. Here is Gloria's recipe for beef skirt fajitas. DELICIOUS. I also made some chicken fajitas which is why it's in the picture. But if you want that recipe, either buy the book or leave a comment on this post to enter the drawing for Gloria's cookbook this Saturday.

Beef Fajitas
6 servings

4 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablepsoons olive oil
2 pounds skirt steak, trimmed and cut into large pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 large red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Garlic butter, optional
12 (8 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
guacamole
salsa

In a large bowl, whisk together garlic paste, salt, lime juice, cumin and olive oil.

Add the steak to the marinade, turning to coat it. Cover the bowl and let the steak marinade in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

When ready to cook, grill or broil the steak to desired doneness. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.

While the meat is resting, heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat. Add the peppers, onion and minced garlic. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the peppers are softened.

Slice the steak thinly across the grain on the diagonal. Arrange steak slices on a platter with the peppers and onion. Drizzle steak juices over steak.

Fill warmed tortillas with steak, peppers, onions, guacamole and salsa.

Other links to some really interesting information on the history of fajitas:
Fajita History
Cookery Online

Strawberries from Poteet (San Antonio)

Welcome to day 3 of Gloria Chadwick's Foods and Flavors of San Antonio. You still have 3 days to enter the drawing to win a copy of Gloria's newest cookbook. Remember that the winner will also receive a copy of my ecookbook, Mi Chita's Mexican Chocolate Recipes. AND there will be two winners announced on Saturday. For each comment you leave here or post about in your blog you will have your name dropped into the hat. Just let me know that you've posted and I'll make sure your chances of winning increase.

So now to the food. I wanted to make one of the chocolate recipes I told you about on my chocolate blog from the great new cookbook I got. So I searched through both Gloria's book and the CHOCOLAT book and decided I would concentrate on strawberries (and chocolate of course).



Poteet, Texas lies right outside of San Antonio and is considered part of the metropolitan area of San Antonio. The town is called the Strawberry Capital of Texas because of it's delicious strawberry crops.





Looking through Foods and Flavors of San Antonio, I saw a delicious yet simple recipe for strawberries that was in turn going to compliment the recipe I wanted to do for the chocolate blog.

Aren't these beautiful? I topped them with some mint I've been growing so the arrangement looked so fresh. And the taste? MOUTHWATERING. I bought these strawberries because I planted my strawberry plants a little too late this spring. But once they bear fruit, I will make this recipe again...and again...and again. They are delicious.

Strawberry Blossoms

1 - 16 ounce container large strawberries
1 - 3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon sour cream
Fresh mint leaves

Remove the stems from the strawberries. Cut the tops to form a flat base. Place berries pointed side up on a plate. With a sharp knife cut through the berries in thirds making sure not to cut hrough the base. Slightly open each berry forming the petals.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and sour cream until light and fluffy. Fill each strawberry with the mixture. If it helps, use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to do this.
Top with fresh mint leaves.

Be sure and check out my chocolate blog to see the first recipe prepared from "CHOCOLAT".
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Always Remember This:
You don't stop laughing because you grow old,
You grow old because you stop laughing!!!

"Foods and Flavors of San Antonio"

This week is all about Gloria Chadwick's newest cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio. By now, most of you have seen the promotions on this excellent cookbook from other food bloggers: Reeni from Cinnamon, Spice and Everything Nice, Megan from Megan's Munchies, and of course the wonderful and illustrous Tiersa ( I call her Cheffy) from Chef Bliss.

We all believe that Gloria's cookbook is a wonderful representation of the array of Tex-Mex food indicative of the mouth-watering cuisine available in San Antonio. The recipes are simple and easy to prepare, leaving any foodie enthusiast without a reason not to indulge in a cultural delight that is and has been sweeping the nation with the ever increasing numbers of the Mexican-American population.

Gloria is not new to the publishing world. She has published a multitude of books ranging from cooking, to writing, to the metaphysical. She's an outsanding researcher, writer and humorist. Owning one of her books will list you in an elite group of people that recognize the benefits of sharing in her knowedge.

Here's where I come in. I have two Foods and Flavors of San Antonio books to give away. I don't do Twitter and my Facebook page is mostly for family - sometimes it's the only way to keep in touch with hard to reach brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.



Each day this week I will post in reference to Gloria's cookbook. All you have to do is leave a comment and your name will be dropped in the "hat". Write a post about Gloria's book in your own blog and or put up a picture of the book with a link to her blog and you will get an added opportunity to win a copy of her cookbook. Just drop me a note telling me what you've done.



Tell you what. Since Gloria and I share a love of both chocolate and coffee (oh yeah, and Kahlua) I'll go a step further. The winner of each copy of Foods and Flavors of San Antonio will also receive a copy of my ebook, Mexican Chocolate Recipes. Can't beat that. Two for the price of one. I'm not trying to self-promote here, I just would like to encourage you to experience the joy of cooking Mexican. Gloria's cookbook will help you do that.

The two recipes I have made from Gloria's book are Kahlua Cookies and Kahlua Coffee.
Kahlua Coffee

2 cups hot, strong coffee
1/2 cup tequila
1/2 cup Kahlua
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream

Brew the coffee in a coffee maker.
Add the tequila, Kahlua and vanilla to the coffee in the carafe. Stir well to mix.
Add the sugr and stir until it is completely dissolved. Pour into cups and drizzle in the cream. Serve hot.
Variations: To make Cool Kahlua Coffee, place the prepared coffee in te refrigerator for 20 minutes, then pour into cups and drizzle the cream. Serves 4.

Kahlua Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups cocoa
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Kahlua
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
Confectioners' Sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, brown sugar and cocoa.
In a separate medium-size bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oil, Kahlua, vanilla and eggs.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix well. Chill the dough 12 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a cookie sheet of lay a sheet of parchment paper on the cookie sheet to prevent sticking. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar on a plate.
Using a melon baller or a small cookie scooper, make 1 cookie at a time rolling it in the powdered sugar before placing it on the prepared cookie sheet.
Place cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart on sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until the cookie is set and the centers are not liquid. Do not overbake. When the cookies are cooled, they will puff and crack. Cool 5 minutes on a cooling rack then remove cookies and place on a plate. Do not stack cookies for at least 1 hour.

Yields 3 dozen.

You can enter as many times as you wish, the more the merrier. The winners will be announced on Saturday, May 2nd. Good Luck!