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Recipe for "fajitas"

NAME

     FAJITAS - Barbecued skirt steak marinated in lime: a Tex-Mex
     favorite
     Fajitas originated in Texas as a  way  to  make  cheap  meat
     palatable.   Unfortunately,  it  was  too  successful. It is
     still palatable, but because the word is  out  that  fajitas
     are  so  delicious,  the  meat isn't cheap any more. Because
     this is not a traditional Mexican dish but a  recent  inven-
     tion  of  Mexican  immigrants, there is no fixed formula for
     it. Many different kinds of marinade are used; this  one  is
     adapted  from  a  recipe given to a friend over the phone by
     Tortuga's in Austin, Texas.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8)

     1.5 kg    skirt steak
     2         large yellow onions
     30 ml     vegetable oil
     16        whole-wheat tortillas
     250 g     grated cheese
     600 g     guacamole
          MARINADE
     250 ml    lime juice
     15 ml     ground black pepper
     20 g      garlic, minced
          PICO DE GALLO
     20 g      fresh cilantro, chopped
     2         scallions, chopped (green onions)
     2         large tomatoes, chopped
     5 g       garlic, minced

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Combine marinade ingredients in a large glass bak-
               ing dish.
          (2)  Peel the fatty membrane from  both  sides  of  the
               skirt steak. This requires a very sharp knife. Add
               meat to marinade  and  marinate  for  at  least  4
               hours, preferably overnight. Keep it in the refri-
               gerator if you marinate overnight.
          (3)  Make  the  pico  de  gallo:  combine  all  of  the
               ingredients in a small serving bowl.
          (4)  Slice the yellow onions into 5-mm slices, and  cut
               each  slice  into  a  semicircle.   Grill the meat
               until  it is cooked slightly less than the way you
               like  it.  Meanwhile,  saute the onions in the oil
               until they are soft.  Use a large frying pan  that
               will have enough room for the meat later.
          (5)  After removing the meat from the grill,  slice  it
               into  strips  that  are  cut across the grain. The
               strips should be 12-15 cm long and 5 mm thick. Add
               the  strips  to the onions in the pan, and fry for
               another minute or two.
          (6)  Place on the table the pan full of meat, the  bowl
               of  pico  de gallo, a basket with the tortillas, a
               bowl with the  guacamole,  and  a  bowl  with  the
               grated  cheese.  You  may  wish to provide picante
               sauce in addition.
          (7)  Each person makes her own fajita by taking a  tor-
               tilla,  spooning  some  of  the meat onto it, then
               adding her choice of each of the other ingredients
               in whatever combination she wants.

NOTES

     Skirt steak is somewhat like flank  steak:  somewhat  tough,
     and with a very stringy texture. It is covered on both sides
     with a fatty membrane that must be removed or the meat  will
     be very tough. The key to good fajitas is the proper removal
     of this membrane.
     Fresh-squeezed lime juice is best, but bottled will do.
     Some people from out of state choose to put  sour  cream  on
     their fajitas.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time:  45  minutes  preparation,  several
     hours marinating, 10 minutes cooking.  Precision: no need to
     measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Elaine Rich
     Microelectronics and Computer Technology Co., Austin, Texas
     HI.Rich@MCC.COM