Fajitas

Mike and I are often on the hunt to perfect a certain dish.

He's got steaks to a tee and I think they're better than almost anywhere else. We ate several salmon delicious dinners looking for the perfect way to prepare salmon.

We now find ourselves seeking the perfect fajita recipe. We know it exists. We had the best fajitas ever at Taqueria Ixmiquilpan. And then, wouldn't you know it, we had the best fajitas ever AGAIN at Viña Del Mar, one of the restaurants at our resort in Mexico. The fajitas were so good we got them two nights in a row.

I came home with a renewed vigor to figure out how to make the perfect fajitas at home. I started where I usually start: allrecipes. I found this popular marinade and went to town.

Mixed up the marinade. Didn't have a good size plastic bag, so I used a tupperware instead. Anyone know if this affects quality?

24 hours later and ready to cook. Except I used a yellow onion, not red, and added some green peppers to the mix.

I didn't have a recipe to use when cooking the fajitas, so everything was me guessing. I sauteed 1/2 a yellow onion in a bit of oil.

Chopped up 1 red bell pepper and grabbed some green bell pepper from the freezer. Tossed those into the mix. 

After cooking them, I removed them from the pan and set them aside to cook the meat. Wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do, but its what I did.

Cut the meat into strips and cook.

Add everything together and cook for a bit longer.

Steamed some corn tortillas in the microwave and then covered them to keep them warm.

Our simple spread. Fajitas, tortillas, chips & queso. 

Mike likes to eat his without the tortillas.

I like mine with. :)

Result? These fajitas were NOT the fajitas I've been searching for. However, they're the closest I've ever come. I think the liquid smoke in the marinade was possibly something that edged me closer to those coveted delicious fajitas.

One of my problems was that the meat was too dry. I think, perhaps, next time I should cook the meat first and then add the vegetables and let everything finish together? I feel like I cooked the meat for just a little too long.

Also, when we've gotten the BEST fajitas either here in Greenville or in Mexico, the food has been a bit darker in appearance. Is that a product of cooking them on cast iron? I feel like I should cook these on cast iron. And I would, too, if SOMEONE had brought down Mom & Dad's old cast iron pan like she had promised.

Or maybe it's some special fancy and/or secret fajita sauce that no one has told me about.

Do you have a favorite fajitas recipe? Or some fajita making secrets? If you're willing to share them, I'd love to hear it!