My wife and I love the dollar tacos you can purchase from the Mexican taco trucks - we'll always stop at one of those if we see on at mealtime.
Today we were shopping in the local Fred Meyer, and my sweetie came up to me with a fantastic looking flat iron steak. Perfect - we haven't had breakfast or lunch, and this would make a perfect "linner". My wife wanted a fajita style experience so I cut red and green peppers plus onion to sautee on the griddle. Me- I'm just after the steak
Click to zoom, click again to dismiss
I was at a locak sporting goods store called Blacksheep, and found this Lodge cast iron griddle, which immediately caught my eye. Nothing cooks like cast iron. Here I've blended red and green peppers, plux onion with salt and a little olive oil
Once the sizzling started, I covered it with a pot lid to capture the steam so the vegetables softened.
The vegetable medley is cooking nicely
To ensure the development of the desired brown crust on the steak, I place it on a paper plate and then pat the top dry - paper on both sides ensures dry surfaces, which are essential to develop the brown crust that my wife loves
Sprinkled liberally with kosher salt, I look for the salt melting as the key to turn the meat. I do not add pepper because I usually sear at a high temperature which tends to burn the pepper, or at least causes the desired pungent volatiles in the pepper to burn off. Once the steak is turned, it is liberally seasoned with salt and pepper
The griddle is on two burners, and the one closest to the front is turned off so the vegetables can be keept warm while the steak is searing
After letting the meat rest, slicing it thin gives the steak that perfect bite
The finished product: a little raw cabbage on the corn tortilla for crisp texture, topped with the warm, juicy steak, and a liberal helping of crumbled queso fresco. Tabasco chipotle (my favorite general use hot sauce) completes the taco. ... oh yes, can't forget the beer
