Steak fajitas

It’s always exciting to experience the sensory drama when a hot platter of sizzling fajitas is brought to your table in a Mexican restaurant. Here’s a
recipe for making the same thing at home. It might be less of a performance piece, but it will taste just as great. Traditionally this is made with skirt steak, but flank and sirloin work equally well. The trick is to cook these fast, hot, and no more than medium-rare—which is nice, because it means minimal stove time for you. A cast-iron skillet is perfect for this.

1½ pounds flank, sirloin, rib-eye, skirt, or strip steak, about ¾-inch thick
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, thickly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
1 large green bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 good-sized clove)

 

1. Pat the steak dry with paper towels, and season both sides with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and all the pepper.
2. Place a large (10-to 12-inch) heavy skillet over medium heat. After about a minute, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
Wait another 30 seconds, and then add the steak. Cook, undisturbed, for 1½ to 2 minutes, or until nicely browned. (This will give you a medium-rare
result. If you prefer it more well done, you can cook it as long as 2½ minutes.)
3. Use a metal spatula to loosen, lift, and flip the steak, and cook it on the other side for 1½ to 2 minutes for medium-rare (or up to 2½ minutes for
medium), adding a little more oil if the pan seems dry. Don’t overcook the steak or it will become tough.
4. Transfer the cooked steak to a cutting board or plate, cover it loosely with a tent of foil, and let it rest while you cook the onions and peppers.
5. Without cleaning the pan, return it to the stove over medium heat. After about a minute, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and swirl to coat
the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high, toss in the onion and bell peppers, and cook, shaking the pan and stirring, for only 3 to 5 minutes, or until
everything becomes even more brightly colored and barely tender. Toss in the garlic and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt during the last minute of
cooking.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the vegetables rest while you cut the steak crosswise, against the grain, into thin strips. Add the strips of
cooked steak to the vegetables in the pan, and mix briefly to combine. Bring the pan to the table and serve right away

Grandma betty’s brisket

The labor for this is minimal but the oven time is long, so plan to make brisket at a time when you’ll be home. It’s great the second day, so if you’re going to have people over, you can make it well in advance. The recipe makes enough for a few nights’ dinners. Whatever you don’t eat, leave unsliced and refrigerate in a resealable plastic bag. You’ll find it’s even easier to slice when it’s cold. You can use the slices for sandwiches or reheat them in the microwave, in a skillet with a few drops of water to moisten them, or in a 325°F oven.

 

1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
4 large red or yellow onions, sliced (not too thin)
One 3-pound beef brisket
2 tablespoons water
1. Adjust the rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well, and set aside.
3. Scatter half of the sliced onions in a Dutch oven. Pat the brisket dry with paper towels, then sprinkle the salt mixture evenly over both sides of the
meat. Place the brisket, fat side up, on top of the onions and cover with the rest of the onions. Spoon in the water.
4. Cover the pan tightly with foil, then cover it with the lid. (You want to capture all the steam as the meat cooks.) Place the pan in the center of the
oven and let the brisket roast, undisturbed, for 3 hours.
5. Remove the pan from the oven, uncover it (being careful not to get burned by the steam), and pierce the meat with a fork. If the fork goes in easily
and the meat is tender, it’s done. If it still seems a bit tough, cover the pan again with the foil and the lid, put it back in the oven, and check it again
every 15 to 20 minutes. Depending on the cut of meat, the total cooking can take as long as 4 hours or more, so be patient. (Grandma Betty
reminds us that it is fine for brisket to be a little overdone. Ideally, one should need neither knife nor teeth.)
6. When you take the finished brisket out of the oven, uncover it and let it sit in the pan for at least 10 minutes before slicing it.
7. To serve, transfer the brisket to a cutting board and slice it thin across the grain. Spoon some of the very well cooked (and insanely delicious)
onions and pan juices on top of each serving.

Fashioned beef stew

Pure tradition here: an honest bowlful of fork-tender beef, potatoes, onions, and carrots that have created their own rich-tasting sauce. This stew
takes up to 3 hours to make, but for most of that time it cooks on its own in the oven, while you’re free to do other things. So plan to make this on a
day when you’re going to be home anyway. Because it keeps and reheats so well, consider making it on a weekend for eating throughout the week.
You can save a step by buying pre-cut cubes of stew meat, but I recommend going with larger pieces of chuck (so you know what you’re getting)
and cutting them up yourself. Look for very small red potatoes, 1½ inches in diameter (sometimes called “creamers”), which need only to be cut in
half.

 

3 pounds boneless beef chuck
¾ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil (possibly a little more)
2 medium red or yellow onions, chopped
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3 to 4 cups beef broth (boxed, canned, or reconstituted from bouillon)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 good-sized cloves)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 pound (about 15) red creamer potatoes, halved
1 pound baby carrots, left whole
1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Pat the beef dry with paper towels and put it on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to trim off and discard any visible outer fat, then cut the meat
into a couple of large pieces where it naturally seems to be separating. Cut these larger chunks into 1½-inch cubes (no smaller—if you make them
too small, they will cook too quickly and toughen). Sprinkle the meat with the salt and a liberal amount of pepper.
3. Place an ovenproof soup pot or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. After about a minute, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and swirl to coat
the pan. Carefully add half of the beef cubes, and cook, undisturbed, for about 3 minutes. (If you crowd the pan with all of the meat, it will steam in its
own juices instead of browning.) You will know it is browned properly when it no longer seems to stick to the pan when you nudge a cube with tongs.
4. Use tongs to carefully turn the cubes to another side and continue browning for about 8 minutes, turning the pieces as they cook until they’re deep
golden brown on all sides. Transfer the browned meat to a medium-large bowl and set aside. If the pan looks dry and the bits left on the surface
seem to be burning, add a little more olive oil to the pan. You want a thin film over the entire surface. Add the remaining meat and brown as
described. Transfer to the bowl and set aside.
5. Without cleaning the pan, pour in a little more olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom). Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5
minutes, or until the onions begin to soften.
6. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then slowly whisk in 3 cups of the broth. (It will
make a thick sauce for a moment before thinning out.)
7. Whisk in the tomato paste, garlic, and thyme, and add the bay leaves. Return the browned beef to the pot and check to see that the liquid
reaches the top of the meat. If not, add a bit more broth or bouillon. Bring to a boil over high heat.
8. As soon as the liquid reaches the boiling point, turn off the heat. Cover the pot tightly with foil and cover that with a lid, too, if you have one that fits
tightly. (You want to capture all the steam as the meat cooks.) Transfer the pot to the oven and cook, undisturbed, for 1 hour.
9. Carefully open the pot (to avoid getting burned by the steam that will escape), and stir in the potatoes and carrots. Cover again with the foil and
lid, and return the pot to the oven for another 1 hour of cooking.
10. Remove the pot from the oven and let the stew sit, still covered, for 10 minutes before serving. Remove the bay leaves. Serve hot or warm.

Broccoli beef

Real Chinese restaurant food can be yours at home—from your own pan on your own stove, made by you. The trick, as with all stir-fries worth their
salt, is to have all the ingredients ready and lined up near the stove, so you can work ultra-fast (and that means having the rice cooked, too—see
Chapter 7: Sides). Notice how short the cooking time is in this recipe: 30 seconds here, 1 minute there. Take that timing literally, as a few seconds
can make the difference between bright green, crisp, radiant broccoli with mouthwateringly tender, pink-in-the-middle beef…and depressing, faded
broccoli mush with beef jerky (and not in a good way). So be organized, swift, and attentive, and reap the benefits. Make sure you use seasoned,
not plain, rice vinegar.

2 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons (packed) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1½ pounds flank, sirloin, rib-eye, skirt, or strip steak, about ¾-inch thick
3 tablespoons canola, soy, or peanut oil
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 good-sized cloves)
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 large head of broccoli (1½ pounds), tough stem ends discarded, cut on the diagonal into 2-inch spears

1. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Set aside.
2. Slice the steak into ¼-inch-thick strips, cutting crosswise, against the grain.
3. Place a large (10-to 12-inch) heavy skillet (or a medium-large wok) over medium heat. After about a minute, add about half of the oil
(approximately 1½ tablespoons) and swirl to coat the pan. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and wait another 30 seconds for the oil to get very hot,
then add the steak strips in a single layer. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and 1 tablespoon each of the garlic and ginger.
4. Wait for 1 minute. Then, as quickly and deftly as possible, use tongs to turn over each strip of steak and cook for 1 minute on the second side.
(This will yield medium-rare strips. If you prefer your meat to be more thoroughly cooked, give them up to 2 minutes on the second side.)
5. Scoop up the cooked steak with tongs or a spoon, and transfer it to a bowl. Include all the cooking juices.
6. Keeping the pan over medium-high heat, add the remaining oil. Wait for 30 seconds, and then swirl to coat the pan. Toss in the broccoli, and
sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Turn the heat to high, and stir-fry the broccoli for 1 minute.
7. Sprinkle in the remaining garlic and ginger, and stir-fry for another minute.
8. Pour in the reserved soy sauce mixture, and keep the heat high as you stir-fry for 30 seconds. Toss in the cooked meat plus all its juices, and
toss briefly to combine. Remove from the heat, and serve right away.