Ok, it is official. I’m a food geek.
I get so excited to find and try new edible products and yesterday I found myself celebrating to find this gorgeously packaged, delicious whole food sour cream from Quebec. Like I am still celebrating today.
I was thinking of making fajitas for dinner, since I have a boatload of skirt steak in my freezer, and I needed sour cream. I don’t often buy sour cream but some things just feel like they need it and fajitas are in that category. A detour in my day found me at Sobey’s, a grocery store that I seldom shop at – mostly because it’s expensive, but also because for me it is inconvenient.
I love perusing grocery stores, looking for new products that aren’t carried elsewhere, but my search for sour cream was looking like it was going to end in disappointment. Everything I looked at was basically modified cornstarch and carrageenan, laced with a little dairy. Seriously, have you read the labels on this stuff lately? It’s depressing.
I was just about to give up and forego the dairy altogether when this cute little package caught my eye. Frustratingly it was not where the rest of the sour cream was, not sure what that is about – but I can guess. I noticed it because it ignited a spark of recognition. I had seen the same packaging a few weeks ago at a specialty cheese shop. That package’s contents had been crème fraîche. I took note because I see recipes using crème fraîche and don’t ever see it in our supermarkets, yet here it was. Note to self.
Anyway, I picked it up and was over the top to discover that this was not creme fraise but sour cream. A glance at the ingredients and jackpot! These gorgeous little pots contain only dairy and bacteria. Done and oh so done. I nearly skipped out of the store.
Time to skip on home and get going on dinner.
We made spicy creole shrimp last week and as soon as I tasted them I thought that the spice mixed we used would be perfect for beef fajitas. I was right. This mix is just spicy enough to hold up to the beef but not so spicy that it is all you can taste. I hate that kind of spicy!
Fajitas are quick and easy and these ones required only a short time marinating. So short that I’m not even sure I’d call it marinating. Once everything was tossed with the spice mix it all went on to the barbecue at the same time. On high heat the meat was done just a few minutes before the veggies, giving it a minute to sit before carving.
I made these with skirt steak because I had some, but you can easily use flank steak or even sirloin sliced thinly.
Assembled with a bit of sour cream or salsa and a sprinkle of cilantro I had dinner on the table in a flash. I should really do these more often.
Another note to self.
Ingredients
For the steak
- 2 lb skirt or flank steak
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- Juice of one lime
For the veggies
- 4 red yellow and orange peppers
- 1 jalapeno pepper optional
- 1 medium red onion
- olive or avocado oil about 1 Tbsp
For the spice mix
- 2 Tbsp ancho chile powder
- 2 Tbsp cumin
- 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
To serve
- Whole grain flour tortillas
- chopped cilantro
- salsa
- avocado or guacamole
- sour cream
Instructions
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Place the steak into a bowl. Add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and lime juice and toss all to mix. Set aside.
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Combine ancho chili, cumin, paprika, garlic powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside
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Slice peppers and onions thinly and place into a large bowl. Toss with just enough olive oil to lightly cover the vegetables.
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Sprinkle spice mix over vegetables and meat at about a 1/3 to 2/3 ratio (more spice for the meat)
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Place vegetables into an oiled grill basket
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Heat barbecue to high
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Place vegetables and meat onto grill. Grill until meat is med rare and veggies are slightly softened
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Remove from grill, let meat rest for a few minutes, then slice across the grain
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Serve family style, placing tortillas and condiments on the table and letting each person fix their own fajita
Recipe Notes
The jalapeño can be optionally grilled with the rest of the peppers, or chopped and served on the side raw