Beef Fajitas w/Guacamole & Cilantro

By Dave Pepple's Request:

Shelley's Beef Fajitas with Guacamole & Cilantro (etc!)
(you should be warned that my measurements are never exact! I always add more or less based on taste, but this is a good guide to go by!:)

Beef Fajitas Marinade
Ingredients:
1 pound flank steak, sliced into 3 inch strips (easier if the meat is partially frozen)***
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
salt & pepper
1-2 tbsp olive oil
*obviously, you can double or triple this recipe. This was enough for 3 people to have 2 "tacos")

Place all ingredients in a Gallon sized Zip Lock and marinate in refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but for at least a couple hours. The longer the better, in my opinion. Turn often while in the refrigerator. *** (my husband said that you should marinate the flank steak whole, then slice afterward to keep the juices in. I disagree with him, but maybe he has a point. However, you didn't ask him for HIS recipe, now did ya? :)

When the meat is ready, saute in olive oil until it gets a nice golden color. You might need to cook off all of the excess moisture; I ended up pouring alot of liquid out before I finally got the meat to brown. Another option is that you could pat the meat dry with a paper towel before putting in the saute pan, then it might brown a little quicker.

Fajita Veggies
Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 sweet yellow pepper, thinly sliced
3 bell peppers of various colors (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, etc), thinly sliced into strips
salt & pepper

Heat olive oil in saute pan until it ripples. Add vegetables, salt and pepper. Stir and saute until veggies are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Just leave then in the pan "full of love" until everything else is ready. :) They keep nicely and you can give them a quick re-heat.

Guacamole
Ingredients:
2 ripe Hass avocados
juice of half of a lime (or a lemon)
1 tbsp red onion, diced fine
several dashes of ground cumin
a dash of cumin seed
a dash of garlic salt
pepper

In a small bowl, smash the avocado with a fork. Squeeze the lime juice in, toss the rest in, mix it up and let it "marry" in the fridge.

Sour Cream with toasted Cumin Seeds
Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream (I use light)
2 tbsp cumin seeds

In a small non stick pan, toast the cumin seeds on med-high heat for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool. Toss in a small bowl with the sour cream and let "marry" in fridge.

Additional ingredients:
Flour tortillas ( I steam/toast mine over a gas burner on my range top)
Cilantro
Hot sauce, pico de gallo, or salsa

Now the fun part! Fill a flour tortilla with the fajita meat, onion/peppers, guacamole, sour cream, several sprigs of cilantro and a few dashes of hot sauce or salsa. Personally, I like to use Sriacha sauce, but its really hot. Or else I make my own pico de gallo, which is just diced tomato, red onion, jalepeno, cilantro, a little lime, salt & pepper.

Enjoy!!
And thank you for asking! :)

Maya

The other day, my husband and myself found ourselves kid-less, so we decided to drive up to Sonoma for lunch. We weren't sure where we were going; we had heard of a place called Mondo, but it was closed, so we ended up at Maya. We have been there several times and its always been good. This time was no different.

We were greeted right away and asked to wait in the bar area for a few minutes. Chips, salsa, and water were served right away by a friendly busboy. After about 10 minutes, we were seated at our table. We weren't greeted by our waiter for several minutes, but when he did show up we were not only ready to order our Maya Margarita, but we were also ready to order our lunch. The food took a little bit, as it was obvious that the kitchen was busy since the restaurant was a full house.

I ordered the house salad, which was green leaf lettuce, jicama, mango, and a chipotle papaya vinaigrette. I opted to add the 5 grilled tiger prawns, and it was a delicious addition. For my entree, I ordered the cheeseburger, which was served on a soft roll, and with yucca fries. It was very, very rare, but I still enjoyed it. The waiter never asked how I wanted it cooked, and I didn't even think to order it medium. I gave half to my husband, and he shared his carne asada tacos with me. The meat was tender and flavorful, and served on top of a corn tortilla, with finely diced red onion and a spicy red sauce. The tacos were served with a side of rice and pureed white beans.

The service was a tad slow, but the food was delicious as always. I will definitely return in the future! :)

Picante

We were going to try the new Bobby's Cafe in San Rafael today, but at the last minute we decided on Picante. Its tucked way back in a residential area, so you really have to know about it otherwise, you probably would never know it was there.

There were several patrons there, and many of them were Latin, so I took that as a good sign! :) The overhead fans were loud and windy and the music was also very loud, but other than that, it was a fun atmosphere.

Rory had a cheese quesadilla, which was really, really cheesy, to the point of being super greasy. Bella had a rice, bean, & cheese burrito. They don't have a kids menu, so it was a huge burrito and she wasn't able to finish it. She said it was perfect. My husband had a "super" carne asada burrito and he loved it. It had steak, rice, beans, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. I chose the regular carnitas burrito, but I didn't "love" mine. It would have been delicious if the pork had not been so dry and hard. It had good potential, though. It was stuffed with tasty Spanish rice, salsa, and pinto beans. Their homemade bottled hot sauce was really good with a nice kick to it.

Maybe it was just a bad "pork" day at Picante. I'm sure we will go back again some day; maybe I'll try the fish tacos next time.

I'm dying to try the new Jason's in Greenbrae so I can review it. I never had the opportunity to visit his old location in San Rafael, and I'm glad to see he got better "digs" in the old Giorgio's spot by the water. And we will have to give Bobby's a try sometime, too.

Del Taco-Costa Mesa

Ha Ha Ha! LOL

Ok, I just couldn't resist a review of Del Taco! I love this stuff! Thank God there is only one around here (Market and 3rd), otherwise I might be tempted to reinstating Taco Bell Tuesday but changing it to Del Taco Tuesday. Anyway, since I was down in Orange County last weekend, and KNEW that there was a Del Taco right across the Unity Bridge from my hotel to South Coast Plaza, I figured I would indulge.

I ordered a Del Combo Burrito. OMG Yum. I took it to go and scarfed it down in my hotel room. I barely had a chance to enjoy it; I was so hungry. So, the next day I just knew I had to try it again...and since I ordered it incorrectly, this time I got it right.

I have to remember to order the Deluxe Combo Burrito! It is the same as the Combo, beans, seasoned ground beef, red sauce, onion, and cheddar cheese...but with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. Now, that is a good burrito! Add some El Scorcho sauce and you are set!! Unless you have a few extra calories left and are super hungry, then the Macho Combo burrito is the way to go!

I also ordered a plain cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato added on, but I was way too full to eat it! I ended up having to toss it. Bummer. I was also bummed that I didn't order the fries. They have such great fries!!! Crinkley and perfect. Next time!