Steak Fajitas

My husband and I recently ate out and ordered steak fajitas. I'm a fan of most things that come in a tortilla, but I was blown away by the seasoning on the meat. I could have eaten the meat alone and been completely happy. When I realized how amazing a fajita could be with a great seasoned meat, I was determined to find a great fajita recipe. Luckily, it took me one look through Pinterest, and one try on the first recipe I found from Little Spice Jar to find a fantastic marinade. 

Now, as a relatively new newlywed, I don't have many spices. I don't have the space to store them, and for the first year and a half, all the spices I have were sitting loosely on our counter up against a wall. Finally I got a small wooden crate to contain them and make it look a bit nicer, but even that doesn't hold them all. So I hesitate to buy anymore spices than I already have because I just don't have the room. So when I made the recipe, I did not include the cumin, chili powder or cilantro, and I thought it was still amazing. 

Our favorites are orange and red peppers!

Tip about juices: The recipe did not state whether to use lime juice from concentrate (in the bottle) or fresh-squeezed juice. I used the juice in the bottle, but noticed that the lime taste was much stronger than the pineapple juice taste. I did add a bit more pineapple juice than it called for, but could still taste the lime. This was not a bad taste, as it added a tangy taste which was still delicious. However, when explaining this to my mother, she noted that any concentrate that you get in a bottle is going to be stronger than the fresh-squeezed juice. So next time I make this, I might use a bit less of the lime juice. Thanks for the knowledge mom!

One thing I struggle with when making meats is the time it takes to cook the meat. It always takes almost double the time to cook my meats than recipes state, and the only reason I can think of is that every stove is different. I also do not have a cast iron skillet that I hear is great for cooking any meat. But my meat took 10-15 minutes on each side, and it was still medium rare when done. I thought my meat was going to start moo-ing at me (something my family would say), so I stuck a few of the slices back in the pan for just a minute on each side, which was perfect. 

I added just a bit of the marinade in the pan so it didn't all go to waste

Cooking the veggies in the pan that the meat cooked in added a bit of that marinated flavor, and saved dishes. 

This is a simple and delicious recipe I will use again for fajitas! Enjoy!

Steak Fajitas
(My interpretation of directions. To find more explanation and detail, see Little Spice Jar's page.)
Marinade:
1/3 cup lime juice (less if concentrate)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp EACH cumin and chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Fajitas:
1 1/2-2 lbs shirt or flank steak (I used flat iron steak)
1 Tbsp oil
2 medium white onions, sliced
2-3 bell peppers

1. Steak marinade: Combine ingredients for marinade in a bowl. Taste and adjust if needed. Coat steak in marinate and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Set pan on high heat to warm up oil. Add steak to pan (and a little liquid marinade if desired) and fry on each side for ~3 minutes on each side. Remove the steak and allow to rest before cutting, tented with foil. Slice the meat against the grain.
3. Add remaining oil to the pan and add veggies. Cook until desired doneness. 
4. Serve in tortillas with preferred condiments such as sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, etc. 

Philly Cheesesteak Cups

This recipe has gone around the internet quite a bit, and is something that Derek and I both like, so I thought I'd try it out! I had lots of websites to choose from, but here's where I got my recipe. And, yes, I know I'm just adding to that pile of websites, but that's what blogs are for, right? You can pick and choose! No hard feelings if you pick another website, either. I do the same thing all the time.

This is a rather easy recipe to put together and doesn't require a ton of prep.

The recipe said to slice the meat thin, but how thin is thin? I thought mine would have been thin and small enough, but when I was ready to combine the meat with the veggies, I realized these pieces might not fit nicely in the cups. So I cut them up in the pan after they were cooked. 

I also added some left-over chicken!

One mistake I made in prepping for this meal was forgetting the heavy cream. I make about 4 meals a year that require heavy cream so rarely do I have some in the fridge, and just passed over it for my grocery list. So I quickly googled substitutions and found a helpful substitution with things I already have. I am big about prepping as much before I need it as possible. So I got the heavy cream substitution ready while the meat and veggies were cooking, but discovered something I didn't read about online for this substitution.

I cut the pastry to approximately 3x3 squares and they fit perfectly in my muffin tin. I had quite a few extra squares left over, so I decided to add a bit of crust onto a few just for fun.

These were delicious cups that were also quite filling! 

*Update: Because it is just the two of us, we had leftovers for the next few nights. I will say I am not a big fan of deflated pastry puff. So this meal might be best when you will have guests and can show off your creativity, and not have leftovers!

I still had 3 squares left over, so I decided to get creative and made a small and easy dessert. I just took some candy and stuffed it in the squares and baked it for about 10 minutes, just enough to melt the chocolate and make the pastry golden. It was a delicious dessert!

I hope you can enjoy these Philly Cheesesteak cups just as much as we did! And treat yourself to a delicious dessert, too!

Philly Cheesecake Cups

• 1 lb rib eye steak, thinly sliced (if you want to save a little money, use flank steak EXTREMELY thinly sliced, or use ground beef)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushroom, chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 package puff pastry, thawed
• ½ cup provolone cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Preheat skillet and oil. Add chopped onion and peppers and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Cook beef in the same skillet until no longer pink. Add the veggie mixture back to the pan.

4. Add seasonings, cream and milk. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened. Remove from heat.

5. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Cut pastry to 3-4 inch squares and place each one in muffin cup. Add about 1/4 cup cheesesteak mix to each cup. 

6. Bake for about 10 minutes. Place a small bunch of provolone cheese on each cheesesteak cup and continue to bake for another 3 minutes or so.