These fajitas are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious to eat. What’s more festive and fun than a
sizzling pan full of food, ready to be devoured? If you have a cast-iron fajita pan, go ahead and use that, but it works just as well in a standard pan.
Ingredients
- 2–3 pounds skirt steak
- Salt
- 4 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 3 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons ground sweet paprika
- 1 tablespoon achiote seeds (optional)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 6 dried cascabel chiles (or dried chiles of your choice), stemmed and seeded
- 1 dried bay leaf, crushed
- 2 green bell peppers, cut into strips
- 1 large onion, sliced into thin wedges
- Flour tortillas, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole, for serving
How to Make It
- Pat the meat dry and season liberally with salt.
- In a spice mill, grind the black pepper, oregano, paprika, achiote (if using), cumin, allspice, cloves, chiles, and bay leaf. Sift into a medium bowl to remove any large pieces that didn’t grind. Add enough water to create a thick paste.
- Place the steak in a large ziplock bag, add the paste, and seal, pushing out as much air as possible. Massage the paste into the steak. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Turn the bag over once or twice while it’s marinating.
- Remove the steak from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
- Heat a large cast-iron grill pan or skillet. Cook the meat over high heat, turning once or twice, until desired doneness (120°F/50°C for medium-rare or 125–130°F/52–54°C for medium). Let the meat rest on a platter, tented with foil, while you cook the vegetables.
- Add the bell peppers and onion to the pan and cook until slightly charred, about 10 minutes.
- Slice the meat very thinly, against the grain. Toss with the vegetables and serve on flour tortillas with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.